Harry Potter and the Devil's Sorcery
by Rennerd
Summary: The wizarding World knew about Devils. Indeed summoning them was one of the highest crimes there was, for it may lead to the devil's finding out about them. Harry Potter always was rash, and feeling his hand forced by the ministry discards all the warnings in the pursuit of power. Rated M because, hey, it's DXD. Currently; on hold/discontinued
1. Chapter 1

**A.N. Well, another HP;DXD crossover. This is pretty much a first draft. Some people felt that becoming a member of Rias peerage was overdone, and honestly I agree.**

**Secondly, I always find it irritating Harry Potter crossovers when the Potterside of things are 'a bunch of lazy arrogant wand wavers who everyone knows about and doesn't take seriously' So none of that here.**

**In this story (If I continue it, as usual) Harry will not become a devil/angel/whatever. He will stay a human magic user. Other magic users from HP will also possess sufficient power to not be, forgive my crassness 'Oh Voldemort and Dumbledore. A high class devil can defeat them by farting in their general direction' that people like to do (in general HP crossovers, not just DXD) (Note; I have never seen a story where Dumbledore is defeated by farting, nor do I want to. It was a sarcastic exaggeration (And I felt stupid that I might need to point that out). I regret seeing one where Voldemort was crippled by a Ron bashing fart. Curse you internet, now I can never forget that.)**

**The main problem with many HP crossovers is HP is not a shounen manga, and does not operate like one, leading to 'they're all pathetic'. Something I would like to stop, so maybe this will get continued longer than my other ideas. Maybe not.**

**Heh, maybe I will go back to DXD soon. I got to the point "Let me press your nipples while enemies are right over there, and I will definitely gain a new powerful ability" and I just thought No… Hell No. So if I do keep at this, while I will try and avoid any bashing, don't expect anything cool from Issei.**

**As always, any comments are welcomed, but try to keep it useful. I can easily change anything people think is stupid that I overlooked, particularly early on. **

**Something to remember, There are things I am not Happy with in this. But if I wanted to try and get it perfect, or rather, just better, I would end up never releasing anything. If there is something in particular that you feel needs changing, please say what you would change, and how. Of course, I doubt anyone actually reads these A.N.'s…**

**One last thing, while I don't intend to copy anything from other fanfics I won't deny that I am easily influenced by whatever happens to have struck my fancy recently.**

* * *

Fifteen year old Harry Potter sighed as he scratched an itch for what seemed the hundredth time in the last hour. The black robes he was wearing were truly a testament to his lack of skill at making clothes. Unfortunately for the sake of the ritual he was preparing, wearing clothes made by himself would be effective than clothes he bought. Hopefully. The tome was unclear, but he figured it was what it meant.

The fabled chamber of secrets was dimly lit by dozens of candles. He'd had to steal some from muggle shops, but all the candles in the large pentagram he'd drawn on the floor (in blood, Thank God for blood replenishment potions) had been stolen from wizarding shops, (the joy of having a unique invisibility cloak). If the twins knew what he had used the map to acquire and what for, he doubted they'd ever speak to him again.

Yes, rituals such as this get a life in Azkaban, or instant execution. It was an incredibly serious business, and had he another choice he would not be doing this at all. But alas, desperate times and all that.

He looked over at the tome again, checking the instructions. The incantation had been in Latin, but he had been able to decipher enough it to understand what he was doing. He took a deep breath, mustering up every shred of willpower he possessed, and chanted, the pentagram beginning to glow and hum with power.

"I invoke the name of the great king Solomon, who possesses dominion over the 72 great pillars of the underworld…"

* * *

"… I command thee, appear before me!" He roared, the power built up in the pentagram being released in a great flash. When the light faded the pentagram was no longer empty. What could only be called a great beauty (or a bloody hot bird as Ron would say) stood at its centre, clad only in a towel and looking around confusedly.

Harry carried on chanting "Now hear me, denizen of the nether. Thou hast been summoned to become mine servant. Should thou wish to escape this fate then thou must prove thine will is the stronger!"

With the end of his words there seemed to be a small flash as an orb of energy appeared midway between them.

Harry stretched his hand out to the orb, willing it to come toward him, while the devil did the same. They both seemed to stagger as the orb seemed to shudder in place.

"_Come on" _Harry snarled under his breath _"I. Need. More. POWER!"_ the orb shuddered once more, before lurching toward Harry's outstretched hand. The devil screamed something. Harry barely heard it, and had no idea what she had said, focused solely on the orb that was nearing his hand. When it finally touched his hand experienced a searing pain. He barely kept himself from screaming as a mark was engraved into the back of his hand. A five pointed star within a circle, with five dots in the segments outside the star and within the circle. He caught himself and only fell to one knee, gasping and drenched in sweat, while he could see the devil had fallen to her hands and knees.

After a moment, He forced himself to his feet unsteadily, and made his way over to the downed figure.

As he stood directly above her, the devil's face looked up, looking at him with anger, still panting.

"What's your name?" he asked.

The devil continued to glare for a moment, before the binding forced her to answer. "Rias Gremory." She said bitterly.

He closed his eyes in thought. If he recalled, Gremory was a supposedly a duke of Hell. He couldn't really remember much else.

"I see." He said opening his eyes. "For what it's worth, I _am_ sorry about this."

"So what is your will, _Master_?" she spat.

Harry sighed. "For now, nothing" he said. "You're strong, I feel exhausted after summoning and binding you. I need to sleep." He yawned. Drawing his wand he cast a simple alarm charm, and a quick spell that summoned a chair that had been pushed to the back of the chamber to him.

"For now, just don't leave this room, and don't do anything that could be considered as hostile toward me." He eyed her towel clad body again, and waved his wand, creating a dress and some robes. "Wear those if you like." he muttered, removing the God forsaken piece of crap he called a ritual robe and tossing it to the side, before sitting in the cahir and falling asleep nearly instantly.

* * *

Rias Gremory looked at the man that had summoned her, made her his slave, and then just fallen asleep. Raising her hand she summoned the power of destruction, preparing to obliterate him. But no matter how she tried she just couldn't release the power. Sighing she turned aside, examining the vast chamber she had appeared in. She considered who the man might be. There were magic using humans, but truthfully they didn't have the power to do something like this. She had heard that there had been another group of magic users that had disappeared centuries ago, but hadn't been heard of since, and they were mostly considered a story.

Walking around the chamber she found a bunch of newspapers pinned up along the wall. One side seemed to be a few decades old, talking about someone called the Dark Lord Voldemort reigning terror on the wizarding world, ending with his miraculous defeat at the hands of a baby. She quirked a brow at the thought of a powerful mage being defeated by a baby. The other set of papers seemed to be talking about a delusional fool called Harry Potter making wild accusations that said Dark Lord wasn't dead. She frowned, looking back at the guy who summoned her. She looked back at the papers. Yes, it seemed that she had been summoned by Harry Potter.

She sighed. This was such a pain. She had just accepted Akeno into her peerage and was preparing to look for new members and then this happened. Well, at least this Potter probably wanted help in killing this Dark Lord rather than a sex slave or something like that. With that she began to examine the room, waiting for her 'master' to awaken.

* * *

Harry awoke with a start as the alarm charm gave him a jolt. A quick glance around revealed that he was in the chamber of secrets, and the devil he had summoned was casually leaning against the wall.

He breathed a sigh of relief. This was the third time he had tried this ritual, and the first time he hadn't ended up in the hospital wing. (Thank God Madam Pomfrey was discreet, explaining it to Umbridge would be a major pain in his arse.)

Seeing he was awake, the devil, or rather, Rias walked over. "So Harry Potter, why have you summoned me?" she asked.

"Heh, if you know that much you must have an idea right?" Before she could say anything he continued "Anyway it's only peripherally linked to Voldemort. What I mainly need is for you to impersonate me, here" he tossed a small bracelet over "this should cause people to recognise you as me, while also abating any suspicions you rouse. Although" he frowned "I would ask that you don't test that too much."

Rias raised an eyebrow "That's it?"

Harry nodded "For now." After some hesitation he took a pose Rias mentally dubbed 'Tohsaka Rin lecture pose 3', "I'm a wizard. As you may guess that means I use magic. You wouldn't know anything else since centuries ago it was decided to remove all trace of us from all of the three factions and to hide from non-magic users. This is an absolute law, punishable by death, or a life in a prison that makes death seem refreshing. In essence, summoning you could get me killed. The reason I summoned you is that forming a contract of some kind" He gestured to the mark that appeared when he subdued her "with a being such as yourself is the easiest way to attain what we call 'great magic'. While all magic can be considered great" he explained "great magic, if used carelessly can destroy cities. As such it is highly restricted."

He pulled a water bottle from inside his clothes and took a deep drink. "Anyone who uses great magic is classified as a warlock. Warlocks that aren't registered are hunted down. Voldemort and Dumbledore are in this class." Seeing her nod, he assumed she knew about those two from the papers he had on the wall.

"However there is something beyond that class. No one has truly obtained that level in several centuries, and that is what I am aiming for, becoming a Sorcerer. Sorcerers are people who use sorcery, magic that goes way beyond the scope of great magic, it intrudes on the realm of the Gods, it is that strong. Of course, that would be insanely, highly illegal."

"So you summoned me to obtain this… great magic?" Rias asked.

"Right, and I need you to act as me for a while until I can figure out how to use it."

Rias frowned "But if summoning me is illegal, how can there be warlocks registered?"

Harry sighed "There are other ways of becoming a warlock, unfortunately I am not privy to them. If I was though, I would still have attempted the summoning. It is the only way to become a sorcerer after all."

"Then why hasn't Voldemort tried to become a sorcerer?"

Harry hesitated before answering "I can't speak for him, but… it is probably because if he was found to have contracted a devil, which carries a heavier punishment than other beings, then the international stage would get involved. Also, the birth of a sorcerer is, apparently, an event that will be felt by anyone around the globe who knows how to look. It would draw the world's attention right to him."

"Then why do you want to become a sorcerer?"

Harry blinked, surprised by the question. "That's… something I don't want to talk about." He said bluntly.

The conversation trailed off, before Harry suddenly checked his watch. "Come on, I need to go see the old man." Harry said, drawing something out of his pocket. "Here, my invisibility cloak" He offered.

Taking it Rias threw it around herself, amazed as her body disappeared.

* * *

Harry sat across from what was the oldest looking human she had ever seen, with a ridiculous beard tucked into his belt and ridiculous clothes. The two of them sat in silence, staring at each other.

"So, am I to assume, that from the lack of Madam Pomfrey complaining about you, that you have finally succeeded Harry?"

In response Harry lifted his hand, revealing the symbol burnt into his skin.

The old man sighed, removing his glasses and rubbing his eyes tiredly.

"Alas, it seems there is no going back now." The old man lamented.

"My path was set the moment the ministry bent over, shoved their heads in the sand and offered their arses to Voldemort on a silver platter." Harry said stiffly.

"The ministry will notice the error of their ways eventually" the old man countered "and they will not fall that easily."

Harry threw his hand out angrily "And how many will have been subverted, bribed or controlled by then? When the ministry finally gets its head out of its arse it will be fuller of holes than the prophet's investigative procedures!"

Dumbledore chuckled sadly "I can't deny your words. But there were other options. But alas, no point crying over spilt milk as the muggles put it." Replacing his glasses he drew a sherbet lemon from the pot on the table, sighing as he savoured the flavour.

"So, can I see the devil you summoned?"

Harry nodded, reaching out towards her and pulled off the cloak. "Wha-" she exclaimed in surprise, not expecting him to know where she was.

Dumbledore studied her closely. "I will admit, that is not what springs to mind when you say 'devil'" he mused.

Returning his attention to Harry the old man continued talking "So what will you do now Harry?"

Harry was silent for a moment. "I'm having Rias impersonate me while I work on the great magic."

Dumbledore hmmed. "Not a bad plan. With the bracelet you created no one should question her presence, unless she gives them reason. Tell me, can she use a wand?" Dumbledore inquired.

Harry opened his mouth to answer, before frowning and closing it, turning to look at her. She shrugged. With a sigh, Harry drew his wand, tossing it to her "catch."

Snatching it out of the air she examined it. It looked to be a well-crafted piece of wood, and it felt strange in her hand. "What do I do with this?" she asked, looking back up at them.

Dumbledore turned to Harry with an amused expression.

Sighing, Harry answered "Alright, focus. Your magical energy will be channelled through the wand. Focus on the tip of the wand, and on making it light up. Then say 'lumos'."

With a bit of disappointment, she focused on the wand, saying lumos. The tip of the wand flickered with light, before remaining dim. She looked up at Harry, who stared back.

"Try again." He encouraged.

Doing so, this time the wand tip stayed lit up for a few seconds before winking out.

"Well, keep trying, it looks like you can use it." Harry said, turning back to Dumbledore, who was stroking his beard.

"Indeed." Dumbledore said, "What is most shocking is that since I am attuned to such things, that her magical… signature, if you will, bears a striking resemblance to yours Harry, almost as if she _is _you. Such a thing is not possible of course, but I wonder, is this because you bound her…" Dumbledore trailed off, getting a pensive look.

Suddenly Dumbledore jumped to his feet. "Come along Children." He said, ushering them to stand together, swiftly scooping up the cloak Harry had left on his desk, "Fawkes." He called, the phoenix swooping over "We go to the chamber of secrets." And they disappeared in a blaze of fire.

* * *

While Rias was happily studying the phoenix, who preened under the attention, Dumbledore and Harry were drawing an intricate pattern on the floor with chalk drawn from Dumbledore's robes.

"Now, you see Harry, I have confirmed that you have a piece of Voldemort's soul attached to you."

Seeing Harry touch his scar Dumbledore nodded "As you suspect. I have been thinking of how to deal with this. I have racked my brain over countless sleepless nights, yet alas I was no closer to an answer. I devised a method, whereby your soul is extracted, and… stored within someone else's, thereby allowing the horcrux to be attacked directly. I dismissed this theory early on, but my mind would not let go of the idea and I developed the necessary spell. Now; the reason I dismissed this theory is because if the soul housing yours and your soul were not… compatible, shall we say, then serious harm could be visited upon them both."

"And that's where I come in?" Rias questioned, joining them with Fawkes perched on her shoulder.

Dumbledore nodded. "As you say, since your magical signature is so similar I suspect this will work."

Rias frowned "You suspect?" she asked warily.

Dumbledore chuckled "Trust me. I am well aware of my many faults, but I assure you, Magical theory is not one of them. I think, no, I know this will work."

* * *

Harry stood at the center of an intricate circle. Across from him stood Rias, with Dumbledore stood behind her, leading her hand through an intricate set of motions. They had been repeating this for the last half an hour. After seeing her perform the motions and repeat the incantation several times he nodded, "Very good. Now, shall we begin?"

With a flick of his wand, several chains shot out from the circle drawn on the ground and wrapped themselves around Harry. This was a precaution, with Harry's soul out of his body the Horcrux may seize control.

Eying Rias carefully, Harry ordered her to perform the ritual to the best of her abilities. Nodding, Rias took a breath, and then it seemed like she began to dance, with several intricate motions, swirling the wand all around her, while murmuring the incantation. It was, admittedly, beautiful to watch. However, it soon ended, with Rias pointing His wand at him, a bolt of Golden light shooting at him, striking him over the heart. His eyes widened, and he grit his teeth against the pain. '_I've suffered the cruciatus, this is nothing.'_ He snarled in his head. The pain grew, and he felt some liquid leaking from his forehead, and he knew it was blood.

Then suddenly, with a 'squelching' sensation, he was no longer in his body. He looked through eyes and saw His body, eyes glowing red with a vicious snarl on its face. There was an odd sensation, a warmth suffusing him, and he knew it was Rias. In this state, he felt something inside him change. He knew, without being able to explain it that Rias felt something similar.

"Quickly Harry!" he heard a call. That was Dumbledore, something in his head reminded, he had to listen.

"Strike your body with the killing curse!"

The killing curse… that was illegal… but Dumbledore should be trusted. He raised his wand, being held by a soft, feminine hand, and spoke two words. An emerald bolt lanced out, striking his body. A dark mist was expunged from it, screaming before dissipating into the air.

"Now cast the counter, Miss Gremory!" Dumbledore's voice came again. This time his hand started moving on its own, and his lips began twitching, releasing words he wasn't speaking. Something told him that he mustn't, absolutely not, resist it, so he let the spell continue. As the spell finished, there was another squelching sensation and his eyes opened in his own body, looking up at the teary face of Rias. Her eyes had no trace of the anger or resentment they had previously held. It seemed that there was some side effect on her after all. He idly wondered if his soul had been changed.

At a cough sound he looked over at Dumbledore, who was slumped into a chair.

"Well, I am glad to say that worked." The headmaster said with a tired smile, reaching into his robe and withdrawing a sherbet lemon, popping the sweet into his mouth.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

* * *

Rias hated to admit it, but she was certainly impressed with what she had seen in this… Hogwarts. The name of the school aside, the magic here was truly incredible. Among devils, magic was used for many things, but to the devils point of view, the main purpose of magic was fighting. Compared to the magic she saw here, devil magic was powerful, but it was, she hated to admit it, fairly simple. Early magic lessons talked about just 'imagine what you want, and push magic energy into it'. Sure, she could use magic to teleport, mind control humans, put up barriers and destroy stuff, but she couldn't do much more than that.

The vast array of charms, and the limitless potential of transfiguration, not to mention the amount of potions with various effects (such as a potion that turned people's heads into pumpkins without killing them, what the hell?) was staggering.

She looked down at the wand in her hand. She had been here for about a week. The previous day, the Headmaster and Harry had been talking together when she had asked whether all devils would be able to cast magic like this. Unfortunately Dumbledore had shot that down. He had claimed that she was not 'truly' casting magic. The magical energy she was using came from Harry, and she was 'borrowing' his skill when she cast her spells. Apparently the effect of the method of binding he had selected.

She prodded the quill that had slowed it's dancing across the parchment before her, causing it to speed up and follow the ghosts droning voice.

She honestly hadn't spent that much time with Harry. He seemed to spend all his time in that secret chamber working on various things. The headmaster always seemed to find time to answer her various questions about witches and wizards. However, he seemed incredibly reluctant to talk about anything regarding sorcery and why they hid themselves from devils. She would admit that this frustrated her, not used to being denied, and made her immensely curious.

As the students started shuffling out at the end of the lecture, she stayed behind. Approaching the ethereal form of the teacher she got his attention "Professor, may I ask a question?"

The ghost, startled, took a moment to focus on her. "Mr… Potter, is it? Very well, go ahead and ask. A student's curiosity should try and be satiated with reliable facts after all."

Rias took a deep breath, "Alright, my question is about sorcerers and devils, and why it is so forbidden to interact with them?"

The ghost cut her off, "That is a very _dangerous _subject Mister Potter. However, I shall answer what I can. The last Sorcerer was a man named Edward Black. Using his sorcery, he achieved something that was thought to be impossible. The mere knowledge of what he did poses a threat to the very existence of wizard kind, and thus, the great circle of warlocks sacrificed their lives to cast a great magic that erased knowledge of the act, and of the existence of wizard kind from all apart from ourselves. Mere conjecture on what _That Man_ did is a crime so I would ask you refrain from any further questions on that matter."

She nodded, "Alright, then my next question, you've mentioned great magic and warlocks, Sorcery and sorcerers. How do they differ from normal magic?"

"In scope." The ghost lectured. "Magic covers what we may use in life. It includes many things some powerful, others not so much. Great magic, as the name implies, is great. You have no doubt heard about how wizards of old would bring down magic that could slay armies or destroy cities in one go? That is the class of great magic. Something like summoning a conflagration that consumes an entire army in a moment, or causing the ground to rise up and swallow an entire city before anyone realises what's going on, they require great magic. While technically, any wizard or witch could use such magic, they require a 'catalyst' if you will, to unlock. One who is capable of utilising such magic is referred to as a 'warlock'. Sorcery on the other hand… There are no real examples of Sorcery that I can share with you. All I can say is that sorcery is something that can very easily be mistaken as the act of God or some such greater being. Something that logic demands is entirely outside of what a human can manage. Of course, from what I recall, sorcerers have to enhance their bodies, lest their great power tears it apart, and it is somebody who has enhanced their body in preparation for sorcery who is called a sorcerer."

As Rias nodded, listening to his lecture, she marvelled that not being required to breath meant he could really talk. If he could get rid of his monotone, he might be a pretty good teacher.

Seeing the ghost beginning to float away, Rias decided that was enough question time and left, picking up 'her' bag on the way out.

Leaving the room, she was ambushed by a pair of humans. She recognised them as Ron Weasley and Hermione Granger, apparently 'her' friends.

"Harry, mate, what were you doing, staying after class to talk to _Binns_ for? Are you mental?"

However, before she answered Hermione jumped in.

"Honestly, Ronald, just because he wants to ask a teacher questions does not make him 'mental'. And it's _Professor_ Binns." She span to face Rias "Harry, what were those questions about?"

Rias shrugged. "Something I was curious about is all."

Hermione worried at her lip "Harry, I've read references about that sort of thing. With the way the ministry is acting, you may want to avoid asking about that sort of thing at all."

Rias shrugged again "All right, I won't ask about it anymore then." After all, it was doubtful anyone would tell her anything. It was still plenty to think about.

The two humans glanced at each other.

"Harry," Hermione began "You've been distant lately. I know the ministry is bothering you, but you should talk about it with us."

Eyeing them, Rias thought about what Harry had said. The bracelet Harry had given her should prevent people from taking an interest in her. However this wasn't the first time these two had tried to talk to her. She wondered if it meant their relationship was that strong, or the aversion effect was weak. Either way, Harry had told her how to deal with this sort of thing.

Turning and walking back towards Gryffindor Tower she said "I'm fine."

Ignoring their attempts to annoy her, she was headed up to her dorm when the boy said something interesting.

"Hey Harry, want a game of chess?"

Stopping in the middle of the common room, Rias' head appeared to turn mechanically to fix the boy with a stare. "…Sure." She said, hiding her enthusiasm.

Several people around her seemed to chuckle for some reason, before going back to what they were doing.

Joining Ron in a corner, she sat in an armchair as the board set itself up (She would 'have' to get one of these chess sets!). At the start of the game, Ron was sat back like a lounging commander who expected no trouble. After several turns he gradually began to sit forward and become more engrossed in the game. After much back and forth, he sat back. "Checkmate." He said, smugly.

Hiding a flash of irritation, she took hold of his offered hand, giving it a shake. "Good game." She muttered.

Standing up, "Harry, would you come with me for a second, I have something I need to talk to you about." Ron said. Glancing over at where Hermione was engrossed in some homework or other, Ron seemed relieved that she wasn't paying attention.

Sighing, expecting some questions about love or something Rias got up, "Sure."

With an unsteady grin, Ron thanked her, leading her up to the dorms.

Closing the door behind her, Rias turned, asking "What do you want to talk to me about?" Only to see the boy staring at her with cold eyes, his wand pointed at her face.

"Who are you, and what have you done with Harry Potter?"

Eyes widening, "I don't know what you mean, I am Harry Potter."

Ron's eyes narrowed. "No you're not. Harry is bloody awful at chess. He's never won a game. Against _anyone_. There is no way that game was played by him. You're too good."

Before she could reply, they were interrupted by the sound of slow clapping.

Turning to look at the source of the noise, they were both surprised to see Harry Potter sitting next to his discarded invisibility cloak.

"Harry?" Ron questioned.

"Indeed, right you are. Honestly, I truly am surprised you figured it out. It seems I don't give you enough credit, my faithful sidekick."

"I'm not your sidekick, I'm your best mate." Ron said reflexively. "Anyway, more importantly, what the bloody hell, Harry?"

Harry sighed, "Alas, I have many important tasks clawing at me for attention. Going to classes would be such a bothersome waste of my time, so I've delegated to this lovely lady here to deal with that crap for me."

Ron looked over at her, causing her to wave at him.

"Waste of…? Wait, lady? Harry, I've bloody changed in front of 'her'!"

Rias clapped a hand on his shoulder. "Don't worry, you're not that bad." She said reassuringly with a smirk.

"That's not the bloody point! Wait, stop saying shit like that with my best mates face!"

Harry crossed his hands in front of his face with a smirk. "The state of Ron's family jewels aside,"

"Oi, don't just brush my concerns aside like that!"

Harry adopted a serious expression "Ron, I'd ask that you trust me, and act like Rias is me."

Ron stared at Harry for several moments. "The fact you've not mentioned this means it isn't something I'd agree with, right?"

Harry sighed, "Ron, like I said, please trust me."

After a few moments more of staring, Ron sighed. "Fine. I trust you know what you're doing."

Harry smiled, clearly relieved, "Ron… Thanks."

"Does Dumbledore know?"

"For the sake of plausible deniability… I'm not going to answer that question."

Ron ran a hand through his hair. "I need time to think about this. See you at dinner Harry. Or Rias, whatever." He trailed off into muttering as he walked out the door, leaving Rias and Harry alone.

Harry flopped backwards, onto his bed. "Well that went better than expected."

Rias walked over, looking down at him. "He seemed to take it pretty well."

Harry laid a hand over his face. "I'm surprised. Ron has a nasty temper, almost as bad as my own I suppose. He's maturing."

Rias looked over at the closed door where Ron had left. "I'll admit, I didn't think he was that observant."

"I know what you mean. I honestly expected Hermione to catch on rather than Ron. That would have been a different kettle of fish, so to speak."

"Oh, how so?"

With a grunt, Harry forced himself into sitting position. "Hermione is… well, shall we say she isn't open to other points of view. If she felt what I was doing was wrong, she'd have brought it to the attention of the teachers, which could lead to a bunch of troublesome things."

"Even though she's your friend?"

Harry grinned wryly "_Because_ she's my friend."

Rias tilted her head, "I don't understand."

"Really? She'd do it 'for my own good'."

"I see. Would you mind if I asked what you're here for? You don't usually leave whatever you're doing unless the headmaster forces it."

Harry shrugged, "Everyone needs a break now and then. Plus, I sensed you wanted to talk."

"Really," she murmured, "You are right, there were a couple of things I wanted to talk about."

"Go ahead." Harry said, gesturing her to continue.

"First is, about that so called great magic. From what I've heard it seems to operate more like a devils power than the magic I've seen. Being able to destroy cities, I mean."

"Not really a question, but I think I get what you mean. You're right, in a manner of speaking. But not quite. In a fight against a devil, a wizard wouldn't be able to throw that sort of thing around. At full power, I could probably cast it once or twice a day." He held up his hand where the symbol that had appeared at her summoning was located "I obtained it by coming into contact with your power. In a sense, it is like an altered copy of your power."

She frowned. "Then why did you want it so badly?"

"I didn't, not really. It is just a stepping stone to the next level. But since I have it, it can make a great trump card. Of course, if I get into a fight with a devil or angel that outclasses you, I'll probably resort to using tricks with the magic I already know."

"Your magic isn't strong enough to overcome that sort of power." She said, sure of herself.

Harry shrugged, "You'd be surprised. What' your next question?"

"Alright, what is it that drives you?"

"I'm sorry?" Harry asked.

"I mean, becoming a s-, no, I mean, what you're doing is forbidden, and comes with a pretty harsh punishment. Why would you do it, especially at such a young age?"

Harry leaned back, wondering what to say. Finally, "I won't tell you what I hope to accomplish as a sorcerer, I have to keep that one a secret, but what drives me?"

He sighed, bringing a hand to cover his face. "When I was younger, before I knew about magic, I had a dream." He paused, "I don't mean deep philosophical crap, or aspirations for the future, I mean I went to sleep, and dreamt. I don't remember all the details, unfortunately, but let me summarise."

He stood up, walking over to the window, staring out at the forest.

"There was a young boy named Harry Potter. Questionable relatives aside, he was normal kid. Until he was invited to a school for magic. Some serious stuff happened and he ended up defeating a Dark Lord before he graduated school. Not even a two years later, he married his best mate's younger sister, got a job hunting dark wizards and started a family. The end."

Rias frowned "I don't understand."

Harry sighed, looking back over his shoulder "That's because I haven't finished my story, just the contents of the dream. Tell me, why do you think that boy married his best mate's sister?"

"Because he loved her?"

Harry grimaced "That _should_ have been the reason. But it wasn't. Ginny was, will be, pretty attractive. She's smart and pretty fun, and the dream Harry definitely _liked_ her. But he definitely was not in love with her. He proposed… because it was expected. A lot of his friends were getting married, and he felt it was _normal. _It's the same for his career. An expected, _normal_ profession for him. No doubt he grew to love her, and his kids."

"That doesn't sound so bad" Rias said hesitantly.

She jumped in surprise as Harry's fist connected with the wall with a crunch, damaging his hand.

"It was bad!" He snarled. "He beat the Dark Lord with a fluke! Because he was so obsessed with being normal he was unable to excel! Every child dreams of being special. Unique. Ask them what they want to be when they're older and they'll say something interesting. An astronaut, firefighter, vet or princess. They'll have their own dreams! The boy in _my_ dream was broken by his relatives! He only dreamed of being what people expected of him! Of being normal! Fuck that! I can't accept it, I Won't accept it! That was why I decided on this! To do what no one expects, to achieve the impossible!"

He took a few deep breaths, forcing himself to calm down. Drawing a wand, a substitute supplied by Dumbledore since Rias was using his, he healed his hand.

"That was how it began. But now, there's something I need to do. Or at least, I need to try. I admit, I'll probably die, failing miserably, but still… It's something worth dying over."

He cringed as a pair of arms wrapped around him from behind. "I won't say I understand" her gentle voice came softly, "but thanks for telling me. I think… you should just be yourself."

Harry laughed mirthlessly "and who is that? Nobody can see 'me' to the point I'm not even sure who it is. But… thanks. I guess, I needed to vent."

Harry took a deep breath. "So, is there anything else you wanted to talk about?"

Rias' arms disengaged and she took a couple of steps back. "Right. It's my family. They'll no doubt be looking for me. If they come here it could cause some trouble right?"

"No." Harry immediately shot her down. "They won't come here. Even if they figured out you were summoned, which is doubtful, they would be unable to register your location within the wizarding world." He said bluntly.

Rias frowned. "My family has some pretty good contacts, and ties to the genius of the Satan's. I think they would be able to find this place."

Harry shook his head. "They wouldn't." He repeated. "Unless a wizard reveals the secret, devils will never be capable of piecing together information that leads them to us. One reason summoning you guys is so forbidden."

"Either way, my brother is a Satan, and my family is one of the pillars. They will be looking for me with not inconsiderable resources."

Harry returned to looking out the window. "It won't be a problem for me. But you're right. Them asking that sort of question could get annoying down the line. All right. Suggest a replacement to summon in your place and I'll send you back. I'll rotate which of you is here. You'll have to come up with whatever story you want between the two of you. And remember, you're forbidden from any action that would cause anyone to become aware of the wizarding world."

Rias face turned thoughtful as she thought of who would be good for him to summon. Finally, "The devil you should summon is named…"

* * *

Harry scratched at the back of his head as he left the common room. He had removed the privacy charms he'd thrown up as Ron had confronted Rias (honestly he was impressed by that). He'd tried to avoid this sort of situation since summoning Rias. People whispering about him in the great hall while he could hear them was really annoying. The common room had been practically empty as he left, most everyone having gone down to dinner. He idly sidestepped a hole that appeared beneath the rug he was walking over, no longer surprised by the nonsense the intense magic of Hogwarts created.

After Rias had passed on the name of a devil, he had banished her back to where she had come from. It was such a pain. He looked down at his hand, thinking of the mark he was keeping hidden. There was a limit to the number of devils he would be able to subjugate in this manner. Considering the number also applied to non-devils he would likely need to bind, using one on a second devil like this was a pain in the arse. Nonetheless, he had a feeling it would pay off.

Stopping at the base of the stairway, it suddenly rotated, leaving him much closer to the great hall. He resumed his journey.

He thought about what he had told Rias. It wasn't the whole story, but it had all still been true. He had never been so open about his past with… well, anyone. He wondered if it was a result of the closeness of their souls they had experienced.

It would be best to summon a devil in… about two days, he concluded. Meaning he would have to attend classes for the next two days. Umbridge and Snape. Such a pain. He sighed. He should try and enjoy such peaceful days while they lasted, but people like that really seemed to exist to aggravate him.

Speaking of aggravating, he sighed.

"Potty, five points from Gryffindor for being late to dinner."

"There is no set time for arriving to dinner, Malfoy"

"Five points for arguing with a prefect." Malfoy said with a smirk, while his friends started sniggering.

Harry closed his eyes. It wasn't just his temper, there was something else. He could associate it with pride and wrath. It seemed sharing a soul with a devil had taken its toll on him as well. The feeling was compelling him to smash Malfoy and his friends so they won't bother him again. He reigned the feeling in and brushed past Malfoy.

"Don't ignore your betters scar head!" Malfoy called after him. "But then, what can you expect from the son of a mudblood whore?"

Harry stopped. The feeling he had been reigning in surged, snapping any restraint he had. He spun on his heel, his wand, retrieved from Rias, swishing out. Malfoy and his friends, eyes widening started drawing their wands. Too late, as the overpowered banisher slammed into them, flinging them at the wall with enough strength to cause the wall to crack.

Harry's wand moved again, a blasting curse firing from the tip. A suit of armour jumped in the way, containing the blast, saving the students. At the same time, he felt his sleeve harden, forcing his arms behind his back.

"Mister Potter!" The furious voice of Professor McGonagall shouted, "In all my time! Twenty Points from Gryffindor. What are you doing?!"

"Don't interfere Grimalkin!" He snarled.

The deputy headmistress' eyes widened, before narrowing in anger. "Detention Mister Potter. You'll be coming to the Headmasters office after I take these boys to the hospital wing." She said, as he felt something fill his mouth, preventing him from speaking further.

"That won't be necessary Minerva." Came the voice of Dumbledore.

"Albus, I thought you were at the great hall?"

"Indeed I was. Alas, having finished my meal, I decided to take a stroll." He explained, as he leaned over the unconscious boys, waving his wand over them.

McGonagall's eyes narrowed again. "I understand the healing charms, Albus, but pray tell why you used a confundus charm on them?"

Dumbledore chuckled, "My dear Minerva, I would have thought that would be obvious. I cannot have them tell anyone of what Harry has done here."

"Albus! You can't just cover something like this uhh" she trailed off, her eyes losing focus, and began walking off towards her office.

Dumbledore sighed. "It is aggravating that she has become so susceptible to that spell from me. Alas, the things one must do for the greater good."

He eyed Harry, still bound by transfigured clothes. Judging Harry wouldn't do anything rash, a twitch of his wand removed the spells holding him.

"Grimalkin indeed. May I inquire as to the events leading up to this unfortunate incident Harry?"

"…Sorry. It seems that the soul shuffle with Rias has had some irritating side effects."

"I see." Damn, Dumbledore was still able to guilt him. Focusing on his occlumency, the guilt faded away.

"I'll try and stop it from happening in the future."

"I should hope so. On another matter, may I inquire as to where the young Miss Gremory is?"

"I sent her home. Apparently she's related to a Satan, who would be doing some annoying digging into her disappearance."

"I see. That should have no effect on us here, but caution is usually preferable if the option presents itself."

Turning to the bodies, Dumbledore waved his wand, causing the bodies to rise into the air and begin floating away towards the hospital wing, a piece of parchment with Dumbledore's loopy writing covering it following after them.

"Now that that is dealt with, would you care to join me in my office Harry? I can have food brought there if you are hungry."

Harry sighed "Lead the way."

* * *

After he had finished his meal he studiously avoided Dumbledore's gaze.

"So," the old man began "what progress have you made with your great magic?"

Harry glanced over at him. "I can activate it. It's big, flashy and destroys pretty much everything in its path. I can't pull off the cool stuff you can do with yours though."

Dumbledore nodded. "I surmised as much. Know that it took me, even with my considerable intellect and skill, decades to utilise it for the, ahem, 'cool stuff' as you put it. I would be truly impressed if you were to achieve that level of ability with it before I embark on the next great adventure."

"Nonetheless, I am a little disappointed."

Dumbledore chuckled. "You hold yourself to impossible standards as always. You shall have to tell me why someday." Dumbledore's eyes seemed to light up "Oh yes. Before I forget, I have those things you asked for. May I inquire as to what you intend to do with them?"

Having no reason to keep it from him Harry answered. "To put it frankly, a map.."

Dumbledore quirked an eyebrow "May I ask why?"

"I intend to link the map to the world. Then, by divining the location of things on the map, I should be able to deduce the locations of things in the real world."

Dumbledore leaned back, stroking his beard. "Ah yes. I assume that the idea came from 'A Primer on Sympathy' and 'Divination; Knowing the Present'. Both from the restricted section. A bold theory. I recall some others attempting a similar design in the past. I will see if I can find the records of their attempts. Would you wish for my assistance on this project?"

Harry inclined his head. "I'd appreciate the help."

"Indeed. I find myself mustering more enthusiasm than I have felt in some time." Dumbledore admitted with a smile. "While I may lack talent in divination, I understand the concepts of sympathy. I believe the church has a similar concept called 'idol theory' that a copy has a fraction of the power of the original. It will be an interesting venture, to be sure."

Reaching into his robes, Harry pulled out a notepad, tossing it to Dumbledore. "This has my primary design in it. Tell me what you think."

Examining the page it was open at, the old man looked over it thoughtfully. "Yes, it has promise. However it shows that your basic understanding is slightly off. Here." The old man gestured at part of a diagram. "I think it would be better to change this part, to begin with."

Harry quirked an eyebrow "How so?"

Dumbledore smiled, his eyes seemingly twinkling. Waving his wand, a book flew out from a bookcase, landing on the table between them. Turning to a page near the middle, Dumbledore pointed to a paragraph "I think you've made a common mistake around this point." He said.

Looking over at the book, the two of them talked about the plans well into the night.


	3. Chapter 3

**A.N. Yay, new chapter. So, first things first. I tried reading past the point in the novels I got to last time. So I read past the 'can I press your nipples' thing. And then I saw 'bilingual'. Dear God, I nearly swore to stop reading the series right then and there. I don't think I've ever wished for a main character's death quite so hard. Ever. And I saw Snow in ff13. So, trying to muster up the will to continue reading it. Again.**

**Now, onto matters pertaining this story and reviews for previous chapters. Regarding other religions, probably unaware of the wizarding world. If I get that far in the novels I may pay the issue more attention.**

**Regarding confrontations/meetings/positions. Sorry I don't think I can say anything without giving away a lot more that I'm trying to keep people guessing about.**

**Regarding Rias' age and such. A couple years (2 or 3) before dxd canon. Probably. Wasn't paying much attention to such details. Rias being around 15 may make sense. Akeno is Rias' queen recently (mentioned chapter 1 I think) Kiba and Koneko are not. None of that should interfere with the story at any rate.**

**Rias's bond has no bearing on the engagement with Raiser. **

**We usually see 'Ice Queen Daphne Greengrass'. I've gone with something a little different. If there are any complaints, I'll happily listen so long as people don't say something like 'Daphne is an ice queen/perfect pureblood princess, how dare you change that'.**

**In canon, we see the wizarding world from the point of view of a rather poor student. We hear in the first chapter of book 1 that Voldemort had 'powers Dumbledore never would' yet we don't really see much about that (the only thing we really see is his possession ability that could fit, horcruxes and resurrection ritual no one knew of. On that note, I'd love to see a story where Harry's only decent skill is possession/mind magic.). That said, I wanted to add a little more to the wizarding world. Cue family magic. (Trumpets sound). I have a few ideas, but I'd like to hear anything people have to suggest for any family you care to. Given the nature of DxD I'm almost embarrassed about some of the ideas I have, so don't hold back.**

**About Occlumency. No 'mind shields' here. I've gone with what I think is a little bit of a scary interpretation. See if you can guess what it is.**

* * *

"Good morning Professor Umbridge." Harry called out with the rest of the class. Honestly, the women treated them like they were five year olds, and the ministry thought it was a good idea? Well, her primary purpose here seemed to be pissing him off, a purpose he could unfortunately say she was excelling at.

He focused his occlumency. Dumbledore was appalled at just how good he was at it, but it served him well in situations like this. Ignoring the professor he opened and began pretending to read the book. No offense to the author, but the book was a pile of crap and Harry could have written better by his second year. Wait, maybe he did intend offense? Whatever. He played the role of the model student, not letting the woman get to him.

He turned his mind to other issues. The map design was finalised with Dumbledore's help and he had begun construction that morning. Hopefully it would work. It would make finding the horcruxes relatively simple, and would prove it worked for his other purpose.

Hearing Umbridge say something to Hermione caused his irritation to jump, in spite of his occlumency. The ministry had pissed him off big time. Voldemort and he were connected by fate. (While he knew of horcruxes, he had been unaware of the one in his scar, but he trusted Dumbledore would have found a way to deal with it. Knowing of it would have distracted him from more important matters.) That fate meant that whatever Harry tried to do, Voldemort would interfere with. Harry had to deal with Voldemort before moving on to other schemes.

The ministry's denial forced his schedule to jump forward nearly a decade. He couldn't afford to let Voldemort get entrenched in the world. So summoning a devil happened now rather than some time after he graduated. He had had to spend a great deal of money to move other plans forward. He may just end up beggaring his house at this rate. Well, either way, he doubted he'd be happy just living off his family's money.

Speaking of his other plans, he'd have to visit that woman soon. He couldn't move ahead without the item she'd promised him. Honestly, she was someone he hated dealing with, but her family had access to things he needed. He checked his watch. He'd find her this evening. Hopefully he'd be able to summon the devil Rias recommended tomorrow. He glanced up. He'd just have to get through this woman's lesson, and Snape's, and hopefully he'd be clear. He needed to get back to his projects. The ministry would come for him eventually, and he needed to get a few vital projects done by then.

When the end of the lesson came, Umbridge had a foul expression on her face since Harry had been unwilling to rise to her provocation, and Harry darted out the door with haste.

* * *

Harry made his way through the halls. It was early night. He was holding the Marauders map in his hand as he advanced to a certain dot displayed on it. Coming to a closed door he examined it. Some charms to stop sound from escaping and to avert people's attention. Harry sighed, he had no doubts about what that girl was doing.

He threw an unlocking spell at the door before another spell flung it open with a bang. As expected a pair of naked forms were laid out on a lavish bed. One of the forms shot up with a screech. Harry flicked his wand, sending the boy and his clothes shooting out the room.

The other body slowly rose into a sitting position, a generous bust proudly on display. The girl had dark sleek hair, and a sheen of sweat coating her body.

"Potter, as uncultured as ever." She said, sweeping her hair behind her with a gesture that somehow oozed seductive.

"Cut the crap Greengrass. I want the item you promised me." He replied dryly.

The girl rose to her feet, stretching out without an ounce of shame. Sighing, "Must we get straight to business? That boy wasn't the most skilled but I was close to calling it a satisfying encounter." Her lips twitched into a smile that promised _oh so many things_ "Want to start where he left off?" Her hands rose, brushing softly against her assets, gluing Harry's eyes to them.

Harry tore his eyes away. "Sorry, I like my will free. Maybe some other time. Like never."

A throaty chuckle passed her lips, which were incredibly red, and looked oh so enticing. "Come now Harry, a _man_ like you should be able to brush aside a weak compulsion like that, no?"

"You're probably right" Harry agreed, "But I'm not willing to risk it for a night of enjoyment."

Daphne's eyes smouldered "I promise you" she said huskily "It wouldn't be one night. You'd never want to be a night without me." She had drawn close, brushing a hand against Harry's face."

Harry stepped back "Be that as it may, I'm here for a reason."

Daphne sighed "So many missed opportunities." She frowned, leaning in to sniff at him.

"Wait, this feeling, what is it." She muttered, before her eyes lit up in recognition. "Oh, you naughty boy, you've been playing with things you shouldn't have, haven't you Harry?"

"That's none of your business." He was unable to look away from her eyes.

"If that's the case, then the object you want… I really shouldn't let you have it." She murmured, running her hands across his chest.

"You're going back on our deal then?" he said stiffly.

"Oh no, I would never do that, but, this feeling." She murmured, moving so her eyes were right in front of his. "I see. Well, I have to listen to the spirits request." She murmured.

Harry stiffened as she pressed her lips to his. Against his better judgement he found himself returning the kiss. After a moment, he felt something pass through him. He pulled back.

"What was that?" Harry asked stiffly.

Daphne shrugged. You know about my family right? I simply passed the Breath of the Earth to you." She said.

Harry stared in shock for a moment. The Greengrass family had somehow managed to arrange it so that they were the only family in Britain legally able to use a certain technique. It involved drawing power from the earth into their bodies, strengthening both their bodies and magical abilities. Harry had managed to improvise the technique after seeing Daphne use it (read spying, although she had known he was there.) but for her to give up on her family's monopoly?

As if sensing his question she answered it "The earth wanted to pass you the blessing."

She reached for her wand, with a flick a robe draped itself around her shoulders, barely covering anything. Another flick had the lavish bed become a teacher's desk and her clothes swept into a bag she tossed over her shoulder.

"Well," she said, throwing an enticing look at him, "wanna come back to my place?"

* * *

They emerged from the fireplace in the main chamber of Daphne's home. Said girl threw out an arm to catch Harry as he stumbled.

Harry muttered out a word of thanks, causing Daphne to smirk.

"Mistress Daphne, Master Potter. Should I inform the Mistress you have returned?" asked a voice.

Harry looked over. A completely nude man knelt in a position of servitude.

"That won't be necessary." Daphne dismissed him, taking a hold of Harry's hand and leading him towards a door at the far side of the chamber. "And stay there. I have no need of your… services."

Ignoring the man's crestfallen look, Daphne threw open the door, sweeping into a room filled with an earthy scent. The room was filled with grass and several other exotic plants. However the eye was naturally drawn to several figures in the centre of the room. There were several men and one woman. One man acted as a chair for the women, while the rest caressed and licked every part of her body.

Harry leaned towards Daphne. "So, which is your father?" he asked.

Daphne frowned. After several moments' examination, she answered "the chair."

"Daphne, dear, why must you interrupt me?" the woman asked with a sigh.

"I'm sorry, but after Harry interrupted my fun, I couldn't resist."

The women pushed two of the men. "You, become chairs for my daughter and her guest."

With a cry of "yes mistress" the two men jumped to obey.

"And generations of druids cry out in shame." Harry muttered, taking care no one would hear.

"No thanks, I'll stand." Harry said.

"As you wish." The woman said, the man whom Harry would have sat on returning to his former duty.

Harry focused his occlumency on ignoring the men who were continuing their ministrations and the woman enjoying them.

"So, Harry, how can I help you?" the woman asked with a sultry moan.

"He's come for that object." Daphne helpfully supplied.

The woman sighed. "I see." She rose from her seated position. "You, stay here" she commanded as she led Harry and Daphne out the room.

"So Daphne, you passed it to him?" she asked.

Daphne nodded. "The spirits willed it."

The woman nodded. "I see. Yes, I see it. So, Harry. You want to become a sorcerer. That's why you want this thing."

"Right." Harry agreed.

"I really should try and stop you. But whatever. The spirits wish for me to aid you, so I shall. I hate fighting though, so don't drag us into whatever squabbles you get into."

Harry rolled his eyes "Fine, whatever. Just give me what we agreed on, and I'll keep you in mind if I need anything else."

"Impudent child." She chuckled. "Just like your father. Oh, if your mother hadn't stolen him away."

Harry was lead into a study. Reaching up, the woman took down a dagger from the wall. Holding it in her hands, "Do you know what this is Harry? It's a sacrificial dagger. I believe it is of Aztec origin. Or Mayan. Or something like that. It's not important. What is though, is this dagger has only ever taken the lives of priests. I dare say it is cursed enough that any priest that so much as suffers a scratch would lose their life. It came into my family's possession after the last sorcerer died. He had used it in his ritual to become a sorcerer." She turned, fixing her eyes on his "That's why you want it right?"

"That's right." Harry agreed, readying his wand.

There was a tense moment of silence.

"As I said, if the Earth supports you, then so shall I." The women knelt, offering the hilt of the dagger to him. "Then take this dagger, my Lord." She lowered her head in submission.

Harry stared at her, shocked.

"Mother, what is this?" Daphne gasped out. It wasn't surprising. She had likely been raised thinking of men as servants.

"My daughter, whatever he intends is supported by the earth. First and foremost, we must act for the sake of the earth. If that means giving a man authority, then so be it."

Daphne stared for a moment, open mouthed. Finally she sighed, falling to her knees. "My Lord, please allow me to support you." She somehow forced the words out.

Getting over his shock, Harry reached out and grasped the dagger's handle. "Don't worry, when the ministry becomes my enemy I'll try and avoid letting your assistance be known." He said, taking the dagger. Blood dripped from the blade of the dagger.

"Then, so long as the earth supports you, the Greengrass family shall serve you. By this blood I swear." A soft glow enveloped the woman, and a softer glow enveloped Daphne.

* * *

Harry yawned as he prepared the ingredients for his potion. He had been up late, and unfortunately it had nothing to do with the Greengrass ladies. He had left soon after attaining the dagger, although the lady Greengrass had extracted a promise that he would return so she could see if Daphne was able to instruct him in using the Breath of the Earth. He glanced over at Daphne who had muscled her way into being his potions partner.

Catching his glance she gave him a sultry look. He was disturbed at how she made someone extracting a frog's innards look sexy. Brushing the thought away, he muttered "You didn't seem so… eager, last night."

She smiled at him, promising so much with a single expression, "True, I didn't relish letting a mere man have authority over me, but my mother pointed out that people like you tend not to live that long, and that I should relish new… experiences."

He shuddered, banishing sexy thoughts from his mind. She really was a dangerous person.

Getting back to his previous thought, he had been up late working on the map. It should take a few more days to get a working model, though that should need a few refinements. Dumbledore had checked it over, and done a few of the trickier rune engravings and charm work. It was a shame he needed to use this for his own reasons and couldn't let people find out about it.

He felt a hand _grasp _him under the table, so he slapped the hand away. Next to him Daphne pouted. "For God's sake, not now!" he hissed.

"Oh, so you'll do it later?" she breathed in his ear.

Harry rolled his eyes. While he certainly would enjoy such a thing, he probably shouldn't let himself be distracted.

"We'll see."

"It's a promise, my lord." The way she said it sent shivers down his spine.

"You can call me Harry or Potter like you have until now, you know."

"Well I could, but I won't get a chance to play submissive again. I should experience it, _thoroughly_, don't you think? Maybe I should get a maids uniform? Would you like that, _my lord?_"

He shuddered. This woman…

* * *

He had somehow made it through the class. Daphne had been a helpful distraction from Snape's bitterness so he had somehow avoided getting a detention. He certainly didn't run from the classroom like he was being chased by a rogue skrewt, no matter what Ron said.

Seeing Ron and Hermione coming after him he sped up. He had no desire to listen to another anti-Slytherin rant, or how he shouldn't associate with such a 'loose women', Hermione's words.

Making his way to the great hall, he sat down at the Gryffindor table. Moments later Hermione and Ron sat either side of him.

"Mate, what did you do? Greengrass was all over you." Ron asked incredulously.

"I thought you hated Slytherin. Ron?" Harry asked.

"While it's true I generally dislike Slytherin, their team is a bunch of cheaters after all, but I can forgive Slytherin for tits like that." Ron said with a nod of his head.

"RONALD!" Hermione screeched, somehow managing to keep it low enough that only the people next to them heard "I can't believe you would say something like that!"

"Damn, forgot she was here" Ron muttered.

"You shouldn't objectify women like that! And you Harry, you shouldn't associate with a floozy like that!"

"Floozy Hermione?" Harry asked.

She looked away with reddening cheeks.

"And Ron, nice as her _assets_ may be, you know about her family, right?"

He frowned. He'd heard rumours after all. "You mean…?"

Harry nodded.

Hermione frowned "What are you talking about?"

They shared a look. "Nothing." Ron and Harry chorused, neither wishing to talk about family magics, which would induce another Hermione rant.

Hermione scowled at them, clearly not wanting to let it go.

"Don't worry Hermione, I promise I intend to try and remain off the ministry's radar. I won't do something like risk getting caught in a compromising position."

"Well, that's all good then." She huffed "It's not like I'm just trying to look out for you."

Ron looked at him oddly for a moment. "What's 'radar'?"

"Honestly Ron, it's a muggle thing. You'd think you'd have learnt something by now given your father," She began.

Harry interrupted her before she got into it, "They use it to find things." Harry explained bluntly.

Hermione shot him a glare "You should at least explain things properly Harry."

He shrugged "Explaining it would need you to explain other things. You'd be carrying on for hours."

"Harry's explanation was great thanks" Ron assured quickly.

There was a few moments of silence while they began lunch. "Harry" Hermione began unsurely, "You've been distant the past few days. Please, let us help."

Ron shot him a look. Harry ignored it, "Hermione, I've just been under a bit of stress lately, please, don't worry. But your concern means a lot to me." He glanced over at her with a smile.

After a moment, she was forced to look away. "When you say that with that face, it's just not fair." She muttered.

With that, Harry returned his focus to his food.

* * *

"The way you handled Granger really was masterful." Came an annoying voice.

Harry answered while still drawing out the diagram on the floor. "She's one of my best friends after all."

"That's pretty cold."

"Not really, I understand her well. She is insecure as a 'girl' and as a 'friend'. Those make her easy to deal with. Just got to make sure she doesn't learn about anything that trumps that. Like what I'm doing here. On that note, how are _you_ here?"

The girl stretched out on a conjured chair. "Lesson one, the Earth keeps a track of all 'life'. Tapping into that knowledge can be used for many things. Like following you. As for the why, you're going to summon a devil right? There aren't many opportunities to witness something like that."

Not looking up from his work, he asked his next question "And pray tell why you're almost naked, _again?_"

He could practically hear the smug grin on her face "I suspect summoning is rather taxing. I want to be ready to take adva- I mean, support you in that situation."

"Of course." He sighed. "Fortunately since I've done this before my body should be sufficiently acclimated that I should not need to put myself at your… mercy." Feeling a bit light headed he drank another blood replenishing potion.

"You know, you shouldn't play around with that sort of potion."

"I'm aware, but needs must and all that."

Daphne hmmed in response. "So, have you figured out a ritual for becoming a sorcerer?" she asked.

"My notes are over there, on the table."

He heard her get up and walk over to said table. Several minutes later (which were blissfully silent) She suddenly screeched out "Are you an Idiot?!"

He sighed "What now?"

She slapped the sheets of paper in her hands, "It's this _thing_ you call a ritual! It has more gaping holes than my mother after Beltane! You seriously expect this to work? I wager you have less than a one percent chance of surviving it, let alone it working!"

"You forget a key detail." He pointed out "with my connection to fate, long complicated things are bound to fail, where simple ones are likely to succeed."

There was a slapping sound as her palm met her face. "Of all the-! I forget, given your grades and demeanour, but you really are an idiot! Give me a few days, no, a week. I'll have a ritual that might actually work."

Ignoring the continued mutterings that seemed to centre around "idiot, suicide, moron and useless" Harry replied "Do whatever you want."

After several long minutes, Harry stood and wiped the sweat from his brow. Looking down he examined the pentagram he had drawn. It was incredibly similar to the one he'd used to summon Rias, though he had made some refinements to the design. Again it had been drawn in his blood, something he'd have to find a way around if he had to do this again.

He flicked his wand, causing a multitude of candles to fly around into the correct location, another flick causing them to come alight. He checked his watch, seeing he had a few minutes before he had to begin.

He glanced over at Daphne, seeing she was furiously scribbling on the sheets of paper while muttering to herself. Harry wisely decided not to bother her. He considered the summoning ritual. While it was true he didn't have to do it at a particular time, things such as the time, date and constellations would affect how much power he himself would need to supply. He couldn't really say he understood exactly _why,_ but he acknowledged it had an effect.

Checking his watch again, he saw that it was time. "Oy, Daphne, I'm starting." He called out.

As Daphne turned her eyes towards him, he clapped his hands together and began the incantation.

* * *

He stared at the devil kneeling across from him panting. This time he felt a lot less tired after the summoning, and the battle of wills had felt much easier, though that had more to do with him knowing what to expect than his opponents will.

He waited patiently for her to recover from the ordeal. When she finally looked up, it revealed eyes framed with glasses.

"Sona Sitri… right?"

"You… What did you do?" she asked with barely hidden hostility.

"I summoned you and bound you as my servant." Harry replied without preamble.

She narrowed her eyes. "I see."

"Your name was supplied by a friend of yours, Rias Gremory."

Her eyes widened at that titbit. "Rias did!"

His eyes darted over towards Daphne who was smirking at the scene, probably seeing some cause for amusement. "That's right, if she stayed here too long it might cause some trouble later, so she suggested I summon you."

She paused in thought. She seemed to be more a controlled person than Rias. "So, why did you summon me? It can't be a coincidence that you summoned the sister of two maous."

He tilted his head. "Huh. Actually it is. Well, this might just be fate at work. As for what I need you for…" After a short pause he gave her a basic rundown of the things he had already covered with Rias, minus some of the personal information of course.

"I see." She mused. Suddenly her eyes gleamed "Hey, how about you join my peerage? I can guarantee you'd get more power, and I'd be able to openly help with whatever you need."

Before Harry could say anything Daphne cut in.

"No! Absolutely not! That system is an abomination, he'll have no part of it." She said with fierce eyes.

Sona seemed surprised by both the presence of a second person, her state of dress and the vehemence of her words, "Wha-?"

Harry sighed. "What she said." He gestured towards Daphne.

"Why?" Sona asked, "You're not going to tell me something about how devils are evil are you?"

Harry glanced towards Daphne, who picked up on the cue "It's not that. Devils are more inclined to act on their desires without regard for the consequences, rather than 'evil'. It isn't that. Tell me," she asked "What happens to devils when they die?"

"They disappear" Sona answered "There is no form of afterlife for us."

Daphne narrowed her eyes. "Right. But humans do. _That_ is where the problems lie. When a human is born, the 'spark' called 'life' is received from the Earth, when we die that 'spark' returns to the Earth. That is the basis of 'flow'. Everything comes from somewhere, everything goes somewhere. The 'spark' for devils does not come from the Earth, so it does not go there when they die. Thus, reincarnated devils take that 'spark' from the world, but when they die, where does it go? Each individual case may be likened to a drop in the ocean, but repeated enough and the damage to the planet will become significant."

She sighed "There has already been some damage done that can't be reversed. From what I'm aware of the ICW is trying to devise a means of dealing with this without revealing us to you guys. Well, I'm not exactly holding my breath for them."

Sona snorted "That's your reason, something superstitious like that?"

She was utterly unprepared for the full bodied slap that sent her flying across the room. Daphne glared after her with anger in her eyes.

"Shut up! You may be a devil but you're just like a stupid muggle. You may as well be blind and deaf to the nature of the world. Even the most worthless of wizards can understand this!"

Harry grabbed her wrist "Calm down Daphne, as you said, you can't blame a blind and deaf person for being unable to grasp colours or music."

She turned her glare on Harry for a few moments before returning to the table she had been working at with a huff.

Harry turned to Sona, who was getting to her feet, rubbing a hand at her cheek and glaring at Daphne.

"I apologise for her outburst, but that's pretty much it. It's unfortunate but I have more important matters to deal with than the devils slowly strangling the life out of the world."

He paused, eying the devil in front of him. "Look, I can understand dismissing it as a superstition, but consider this. Until today you had no idea about the existence of us wizards. The magic we use, I can guarentee, is nothing like what you know of. Is it unreasonable to assume we know many things that you don't, just as you likely know of things we are unaware of? Just because you think something is a superstition, doesn't mean that you should ignore it."

He looked over at Daphne "I apologise that she slapped you, but her family… well, they take this sort of thing quite seriously. She'd have been more willing to brush it off if you'd insulted her, her sister and mother before punching her than this. Please forgive her."

There was a moment of silence before the devil took a deep breath "No, it was wrong of me to dismiss your beliefs. I apologise." She said with a stiff bow. Harry was honestly surprised.

"Apology accepted." Daphne said just as stiffly from where she was sat. "And I apologise for overreacting."

Harry rubbed at the back of his head with a sigh. This was certainly awkward. "Well, I suppose I should introduce you to the old man, and get you started on your magical training." He said, summoning his invisibility cloak and draping it over her.

* * *

"So this is your new devil? I must say, devils seem to have become comely women rather than horned monstrosities while I wasn't looking." Dumbledore joked.

"My name is Sona Sitri. It's a pleasure to meet you, headmaster." Sona said formally.

"Oh polite too. Are you sure this one can impersonate you Harry?"

Harry laughed "Maybe you should enrol her in your brothers 'Vulgarity for beginners' then?"

"Oh heavens no, I would never wish such a thing on an innocent girl" Dumbledore chuckled. "And you, my dear? How do you feel about this?"

Seemingly surprised at the question Sona took her time in answering. "While I am not too pleased about being enslaved, I look forward to learning about your magic and how it may help the underworld."

Dumbledore stroked his beard thoughtfully. "A good answer, I suppose. I wish you luck. Hogwarts is, after all, a place for learning."

Dumbledore turned his eyes towards Harry. "I heard that you have been doing business with the Greengrass family. No doubt you know, but I feel I should inform you nonetheless. Men who get involved with the women of that family very rarely come out unscathed. You should be very careful in your dealings with them."

Harry nodded. "I'm aware. I had intended to conclude our business and have no more to do with them. It seems fate has other plans."

"Ah yes, fate. A harsh mistress to be sure. Well, I believe you'll find a way to come out on top, even if your opponent is fate itself."

Harry snorted "Please, feel free to lay unreasonable expectations on me."

"Harry," Dumbledore said sadly "I have no doubt that you will do great things, and exceed any expectations I have of you. Just be careful. Remain true to yourself."

Putting his elbow on the arm of his chair and leaning into his fist Harry replied "Just who do you think I am?"

"Given your… aptitude, for occlumency, I think it is a very real concern."

Sona sat silently, watching the byplay with narrowed eyes.

Suddenly Dumbledore clapped his hands. "Enough of this depressing talk. Miss Sitri, is there anything you wish to ask before I send you off to your beds?"

She considered her request for a moment. "There is one thing. I would very much appreciate it if you would have a duel for me, just to see what you're capable of." She was surprised at the response.

Dumbledore's eyes lit up with excitement whereas Harry let out a groan.

* * *

**A.N. So that's the chapter. I may have to mix a few events from fifth year around in the future. As always, please let me hear what you think was good/bad. While I appreciate a generic 'It's good, looking forward to next update' If you can say 'what' was good/bad, or what you think about things that are alluded to, it helps me to know if I make things too subtle(doubtful) or obvious.**

**To the people who seemed to think Akeno would be summoned, alas no. She is Rias' servant, she doesn't want to 'hand her over' as it were.**


	4. Chapter 4

**A.N. A bit tired of all the 'dodge everything, never shield again' approach many HP stories take. What do you think of my interpretation of it?**

**The chess variant mentioned in this chapter was borrowed from 'No game No life', and when I saw it I knew I'd have to write it into a HP story, finally got a chance.**

**The Susan scene. It was inspired by the DxD aspect of the crossover. That likely gives away more than enough about it. I expect there will be several complaints about it. Ever since I first started a HP DxD cross (a single chapter beginning that I removed from the site) I had intended that sort of thing. I couldn't resist adding it. **

**Talking about occlumency. I had what I thought was a good idea. Then, when I was writing it, it came out incredibly… clunky. I rewrote the scene a few times, but I couldn't get it how I wanted it. I eventually rewrote it completely, since when I had Harry speaking, it dragged on for a few pages. I then changed the entire scene, cutting most of the exposition.**

**I foreshadow the sorcerer ritual a fair bit. I hope it lives up to it.**

**I think I may have made Dumbledore a bit inconsistent. What he does tends to be whatever I think is funny at the time. No apologies.**

**To the people who were sad at the lack of Rias, sorry, but she doesn't show up again this chapter. Sorry about that.**

**By saying this, I make it seemed much more organised than I am, but I roughly have 4 'arcs' planned. The devil's become much more relevant when I get to about 'arc 3' where DxD events start happening. That said, how the story goes depends on what I fell like when I write. So that plan may get shot out the water.**

* * *

Harry was on his hands and knees panting heavily. He was at his limit. He just barely managed to force himself to his feet. While he was only a fifth year, Harry had no doubt he could take almost any student in school. Even if his opponent was an auror, so long as he didn't get careless, he thought he had a decent chance of winning.

By becoming a warlock, Harry's magic was stronger. Just a small boost, but it wasn't insignificant. Similarly his body had changed. Harry estimated that his casting speed had improved by about fifty percent. Taking that into account, Harry was reasonably sure he could take an auror.

None of that made any difference against the monster stood serenely against him. While Harry had been darting around, slinging spells for all he was worth, Dumbledore had barely moved, flicking away each spell with the same attention one paid an irritating child.

Not a single spell had reached him, and every spell the old man had sent back had hammered his shields with enough strength to nearly break them. The worst thing was the contemptuous ease with which Dumbledore had fought.

No matter which direction Harry attacked from, all his attacks were brushed away. Dumbledore had also been running a commentary on the spells being flung around, likely for the sake of the observer, and even with all that talking he wasn't even hard of breathing.

"A most impressive display Harry. I can honestly say I am proud of how you are developing." He said with a genial smile.

"Spare the… sarcasm old… man" he panted out, regaining his balance.

"I apologise if it came out that way, but I was not being sarcastic at all. You are still a young man, it would be unreasonable to expect you to be in my league."

"Voldemort's… in that league… and I need… to beat him." He grunted out, focusing on returning his breathing to normal.

"True, but I doubt you did quite as badly as you think. Take this lesson to heart Harry. Never let your opponent see if they are pushing you. If you can brush off their best, seemingly without a care, then they will likely become either angry or disheartened, and more likely to make a mistake." The smile with which he said it gave no indication of whether Harry had managed to push _him_.

"If I may ask" came the voice of the observer, "but why didn't you try and dodge more of the attacks?"

Dumbledore chuckled at the question, while Harry grunted in a manner suggesting Dumbledore should answer.

"Forgive me my dear, but young Harry here had a similar opinion when he first began. If you wouldn't mind, perhaps it would be easier were I to demonstrate. If you will come over here." He gestured to the other side of him from where Harry was still stood.

Going along with it Sona positioned herself across from him.

"Now, I am going to cast, oh let us say, five or fewer spells at you. Please try and dodge them all."

Sona nodded, readying her body.

"Now then, let us begin." Dumbledore said genially, raising his wand.

She focused on the wand. She narrowed her eyes as Dumbledore slowly flicked it. The next thing she knew her ankle had been yanked into the air and she was dangling upside down. "What!" she exclaimed, rushing to hold her skirt up.

"That, my dear, was a spell developed by Severus that Harry's father was very fond of using. Other than Severus himself, James seemed to love casting it on girls wearing skirts, such as yourself. Of course, they would then chase him through the halls trying to curse him. Aah," he mock wiped a tear from his eyes "happier times. Anyway, as I was saying, it is a spell that produces no 'bolt of magic' as many spells do, and is thus cannot be 'dodged'. Without a wand, there is no way to deflect it." Another flick of his wand lowered her to the ground. Dumbledore gained a curious light in his eyes as a thought occurred to him. "Of course, if you were able to move fast enough that my eyes lost track of you between me starting to cast the spell and finishing it, then maybe you could dodge it.

Now, if you care to try again? I will not use another spell in that category I assure you."

She nodded, focusing on the wand again.

"Stupefy." He stated clearly, a red bolt of magic shooting out the wand. Sona moved to the side, the spell sailing past her. The next 'stupefy' was similarly dodged. The third one blasted out much faster, catching her by surprise.

Moments later she was back on her feet, having been enervated.

"As you saw that time, it is trivial for a skilled wizard, or witch, to alter the flight speed of their spells. I myself am easily able to accelerate spells to the point where inhuman reflexes are required to even attempt to dodge. Of course, some spells, such as the killing curse, are notoriously difficult to modify, which is something of a relief given the nature of the spell."

"Now, if you would care to try one more time? There is one last thing I wish to demonstrate."

Sona gave her assent, preparing herself again.

He flicked his wand. A clear bolt of energy that could barely be seen raced passed her as she moved to the side. She began to move out the way of the second spell, when something crashed into her from behind, slamming her across the floor.

"Wha-" she gasped out. As she stopped rolling she looked over at where she had been stood. A large stone fist was extended out of the ground, having smashed into her.

"Lastly," Dumbledore lectured, "two things really, some spells are hard to see, and some spells can be cast if you expect your opponent to dodge, such as turning the battlefield to your advantage. Had that spell been blocked, for example, it would have had no effect."

Sona got to her feet, rubbing at her back. That was probably going to bruise.

"You were way harsher on me when I suggested that Dumbledore." Harry groused.

"Indeed, but you were much less polite about it." Dumbledore said gaily.

Turning to survey the room, Dumbledore brandished his wand, causing the stone hand to seemingly melt back into the floor.

"Now, if that is all, I must retire to bed. Harry, I shall check over your map at some time tomorrow. Professor Umbridge is trying to monitor my movements, so I cannot say when I shall get a chance. Although," he commented "she may decide to stop. She seemed rather green in the face when she observed my morning dip in the lake."

With that Fawkes swooped down and disappeared with the old headmaster, leaving behind a Harry who was covering his mouth looking ill and a Sona who seemed confused.

"What did he mean by that?" she asked, nonplussed.

"What kind of swimwear do you think he has?" Harry mumbled, still covering his mouth.

"I'd guess one of those really old fashioned ones." She hedged.

"It's October. In Scotland."

"Then, maybe a wetsuit?" she guessed.

"…He wears speedos. Without warming charms." Harry deadpanned.

There was a moment of silence, before Sona fell to her knees holding her mouth. "No way!"

"I know." Harry commiserated, "It's utterly ridiculous, and looks worse than your imagining."

Brushing down his robes, Harry stood straight. "Anyway, you okay? That fist packs quite a punch." Harry grimaced remembering his own introduction to that spell.

"I'm fine," Sona replied, adjusting her glasses, "don't underestimate a devils resilience."

"Great." Harry said, relieved, "Anyway, come over here, I have something to show you." He said, leading her over to what looked like a work area.

"This." He declared proudly, laying his hand on what seemed to be a rough mannequin.

"What is it?" Sona asked curiously.

"Observe." Harry told her, focusing on the mannequin. Its outer layer seemed to melt, before flowing into an exact copy of Harry. "This is what I was going to use to ditch class. It creates a replica of the targets personality to allow it to impersonate them, then stores all the memories it acquires for later access. Of course, creating it probably broke a half dozen laws." He mused.

"That's pretty impressive. With something like that, why did you need to summon me after sending Rias home?"

"Unfortunately, it has one critical defect." He admitted with a grimace. "It is utterly incapable of using magic. Well, it _is_ just a doll after all."

"I see. Then why did you need to show it to me then?"

"I'm going to go ahead and guess that that is a school uniform, right?"

"That is correct" she said with narrowed eyes.

"I was thinking you might be able to use this to cover your disappearance." He frowned "But it won't work of you need to use magic. Maybe it's a bust then." He muttered.

She adjusted her glasses in displeasure "Rias and I go to a human school in Japan." She was forced to admit "So if we cycle the mannequin between us we may be able to avoid raising suspicions."

"Well that's a relief. If you'll touch this then, I'll guide you through how it works, and send this back in your place."

Sona touched it, and moments later it melted down, rearranging itself into her form. After another few moments the personality was altered to match.

"I'm magical girl Sona, Warrior of love and justice!" It called out, striking a cutesy pose.

Sona immediately turned bright red, and Harry sensed imminent violence. Heading it off, he smacked the mannequin on the head.

"Ouch!" it complained, before adopting a serious expression. "I'm Sona Sitri, it's a pleasure to meet you."

"Hahaha" Harry tried to laugh it off "The personality simulator glitches sometimes, it's the problems with prototypes, no need to get angry right?"

Water swirled around her hand.

"Ah! I forbid you from destroying my one of a kind prototypes!"

* * *

Harry sighed. He had somehow managed to calm Sona down. Honestly, it wasn't as bad as some of the glitches it had done for him and Dumbledore, but they had both laughed them off. What was her problem? Well, whatever. He made a note to avoid mentioning 'magical girls' around her in the future.

After she calmed down, he'd given her a crash course on using wands so she'd be able to attend class for him, the Marauders map so she'd be able to go where she needed (with an added function for plotting routes in case she couldn't follow Ron) and the bracelet to let her appear as him. The mannequin had been sent back to wherever she came from. (That had taken some doing to get her to agree.) He could tell there was a question she wanted to ask, but she had decided against it, so he'd respect her privacy.

With a sigh he levelled his spare wand at himself, casting an enervate. It wasn't as good as certain potions, but there was little chance of growing dependant with over use.

He turned back to the map he was creating. He'd better get working on it. While he would never trivialise Voldemort, he was as much an overpowering opponent as Dumbledore, he wanted to try and get this chapter of his life over with.

His eyes were drawn to a pile of papers on his work table. They were apparently still a work in process, but he had his reservations about trusting any ritual Daphne devised. But then, she had pledged to aid him, so it wasn't anything bad. Hopefully. Anyway, she likely had more knowledge about rituals than he did, so he may as well trust her. He ignored the shiver that thought sent down his spine.

* * *

Creating the map took a lot of materials. To enhance the connection between the 'map' and the 'world' it had to be as similar as it could. He was grateful Dumbledore had many connections to get his hands on such materials. Harry himself had a few contacts, but they were mostly for gathering magical things. He eyed some of his other projects. He was lucky the chamber was so ridiculously large. The main chamber, while huge, was only the tip of the proverbial iceberg. Unfortunately Slytherin hadn't left behind a secret library, likely having taken all his research with him when he left.

He eyed a calendar he had hung on the wall. Several dates were outlined. He had estimated (based on theories he could honestly say he didn't really _get_, but then, people spent lifetimes studying it) when it would be the best time to create certain items. The date that stood out most was October 31. Halloween. Honestly, he could say he didn't really like that day, but under his original design, there was no doubt that it would be the best day for attempting the ritual for becoming a sorcerer.

He felt another shiver of trepidation at the thought of a ritual Daphne designed combined with the misfortune Halloween usually brought him. He forced it aside. What would happen would happen, he'd deal with it then.

He turned his attention back to the map. It currently displayed the entire world. It didn't look very detailed due to that. Tapping it with his wand, he focused on what he wanted to see. The entire surface seemed to shift, bringing that country to the centre. Then the water surrounding it seemed to solidify, turning into land while all the other countries seemed to turn to water. The land grew until it was a large map of Britain. Now it was detailed enough that there were discoloured regions where large cities were.

He tapped it with his wand again. This time the map shifted, revealing a large castle residing next to a forest. The result was clearly a replication of Hogwarts.

"Right." He nodded to himself. The map seemed to work well enough. He had managed to finish it about a day earlier than he had anticipated. He'd have Dumbledore check it over. After that they'd test out if it could be used to locate either objects or people. Should it succeed then they should be able to use the former horcrux in their possession to get rough locations for any remaining pieces of Voldemort's soul.

He wiped the sweat from his face, before checking his watch. That late already? He should probably take a quick nap. He idly wondered how Sona was doing.

* * *

Sona sat, staring at the chess board. There had been no classes that day, and the redheaded friend of the wizard who summoned her had challenged her to a match. A great fan of the game, like most devils, she had agreed. The pieces themselves had been a great shock, and if she could get her hands on a set it would almost be worth the whole enslaving thing.

The second shock was that she had lost. Not to brag, but she felt that she was rather an incredible player. That she lost to some random wizard was a blow to her pride. The wizard she had played sighed, before extending his hand. She shook it without really thinking.

"Would you mind coming with me for a bit?" he asked.

"Huh? Uh, sure." She said eloquently.

After being led to the boys' dorm (Why did she have to sleep in a boys' dorm! Rias accepting it she could see, but it was embarrassing!) .

After checking they were alone, the boy locked the door. "So, who are you?" he asked tiredly "I know you're not Harry, and you played differently from Rias."

"What do you mean?"

"As I said to Rias, Harry is awful at chess. There is no way he played that game, and your play style seemed different from the girl pretending to be him a while back."

"Is he really that bad?" she asked. She'd ditched her fiancée because he was an idiot who couldn't beat her at chess after all.

"I've seen that look before. No, you misunderstand. He's bloody brilliant, just not at chess. Beginners wizard chess anyway."

She frowned "what do you mean 'beginners'?"

"That's what that game is called. It was created because a lot of people hate 'real' wizard's chess."

"What's that?"

"You saw how the pieces moved on their own and called out advice right? In the original wizards chess, if you ordered them to move in a way the pieces saw as stupid, they'd refuse the move. You had to be able to inspire them to make them sacrifice themselves. People from a muggle origin tend to dislike it." Ron laughed "It's a pretty fun game, but the thing is, no one will ever play Harry at it. While he's bollocks at ordinary chess, when having to 'lead' his pieces he never loses."

After a moment of thinking, she asked why that was.

"It's because he's great at inspiring people. It's not like he tries to do it, I think. But when he orders his pieces, they obey instantly. Sometimes his opponent pieces refuse to try and take his pieces, too scared of them or something. Sometimes when they try and do so, he somehow converts them to his side. He once screwed up, but told his pawn not to die when my queen was trying to take it. The pawn smashed my queen." Ron stopped, suddenly chuckling "It was hilarious. No one else ever managed that kind of thing. The people who enchant the chess sets were baffled by it. They couldn't replicate it when they tried, at least not consistently. Yet Harry does, without using magic. Maybe his personality is just that strong. Who knows?"

That certainly sounded like an interesting variant she mused. She wondered how it would be to play.

"Hey, would you like a game of that?" she asked.

Ron blinked in surprise before smiling, "I'd love a game, but we can't stay too long up here, and I can't play you when you look like Harry down there unless you can replicate his bullshit. After you stop impersonating him perhaps."

She frowned "That guy gave me a bracelet that should stop people paying attention."

Ron laughed, "Sorry, but you're 'Harry Potter'. I doubt a mere bracelet is powerful enough to divert all the attention you attract. Don't get me wrong, it'll cover up some off behaviour, but it's best to not go tempting fate."

That was unfortunate. She idly looked at the bracelet. "What can you tell me about him? Harry, I mean." All she knew was that he was a wizard, and he had no qualms about binding a devil to his will.

Ron looked out the window, a complicated expression on his face. "What would you like to know?"

* * *

Harry was stroking his wand across what appeared to look somewhat like a rhinoceros horn onto a long wooden pole. Sweat dripped down his face as he focused on not letting his hand shake. The horn was in fact an erumpent horn. An incredibly dangerous material with a predisposition towards exploding. He was fusing the horn to the pole, which itself was well crafted and inscribed with runes. (He'd been studying them on his own time.)

He had come up with the concept over the holidays. Unable to actually use magic, he had devised many different things he might reasonably need in the future since he would likely be facing off against Voldemort and the ministry. He had gotten his hands on a few horns at great cost (after all, potions or tools which cause explosions always come in handy) and had decided this idea was potentially worth wasting one. Until now he had been focused on various things (such as the map), but he had some open time now.

He had put up a silencing ward around him, stopping any noise that might startle him reaching his location. He made sure that tip of his wand came into contact with the horn as lightly as a feather to prevent his face being blown off. He had already inscribed a rune (_that _had been incredibly nerve wrecking) that should cause the fluid responsible for the explosion to regenerate, thus allowing the spear he was creating to be used repeatedly.

Well, if it worked as he hoped anyway. It could turn out to be an incredibly useless design that exploded when he swung it around.

The sweat was dripping down his nose as he focused. _Just a little more_ he thought. It was almost perfectly attached. The moment it was completed he sighed in relief, standing up and wiping at his brow.

"Greetings Harry, it's nice to see you working so hard." Came a genial voice.

Startled, Harry bumped into the table, knocking the spear over the edge. Eyes widening, Harry lunged to grab it with an exclamation of "Fuck!" catching it just before it hit the ground. Breathing heavily, he straightened up, turning to glare at the intruder who had taken a single step within his ward.

"What the hell Dumbledore! You must have known what this thing is!"

"Naturally." The old man replied. "I felt that I shouldn't bother you while you were working, so left the excitement until you were finished."

"Were you trying to kill me?!"

"Of course not. I would never try and harm one of my students." The old man replied gravely. "If your nerves couldn't handle a distraction of that level, you shouldn't be working with such dangerous things."

"There are no words, in this language nor any other, that can describe how much I hate you right now." Harry deadpanned.

"That just means I'm doing a good job as an educator. I'm out of practice, you know." He said cheerfully.

_Roll with the punches_ Harry told himself. "So, what do you want Dumbledore?"

"I just came to examine the map. I must say, you have done an excellent job with it. Truly I am impressed. I ran some tests. I thought you would like to be there when we locate the horcruxes, so I waited for you to finish what you were doing."

Harry sighed. He seemed to do that a lot. "Fine, let's get this momentous occasion over with already."

Dumbledore reached in and scrummaged around in one of the many pockets he had in his robe, finally pulling out a ratty old book with an "a-ha".

Harry reached up and placed a specially designed cap over the erumpent horn portion and, after taking several steps back, tossed it at the table. With no explosion, he deduced the safety measure was a success, so he made his way over to the map with Dumbledore, lowering the silence ward.

As Harry set the map to show the world, Dumbledore took out his wand with a flourish. Waving it over the book, pages were ripped out and were changed into several metal pins. With only a quick examination, Harry was unable to tell the material the pins were made of. Dumbledore proceeded to move his wand in an intricate pattern while muttering words softly. After several moments the pins seemed to glow with a sickly, unpleasant light. After several more movements and mutterings six of the pins shot out, impaling themselves in the map at various points across the representation of Britain.

Harry tapped the map, causing it to shuffle around until it displayed only Britain, the six pins clearly in place. Two of them seemed to be moving at a fast pace just short of piercing, unable to show an exact location. Harry frowned. The other four seemed to be fine but those two were strange.

"I daresay" Dumbledore mused "that it is likely Voldemort himself is hiding with a horcrux behind an unplottable ward."

Harry blinked with a look of realisation. "Of course. I suppose it is relieving that he didn't hide them all behind one."

"Indeed." Dumbledore said, before frowning. "This one here." He pointed at the one in Scotland "I would need to zoom in to be sure, but I suspect that Hogwarts is the only place important enough to Voldemort in Scotland that he would hide a horcrux there."

Harry reached out and drew a circle around the pin with his wand. The circle rearranged itself, showing a replica of Hogwarts with a pin sticking out. "Your right. Unless it's still me somehow, there must be another one around here somewhere."

Harry reached out and drew around the other three set pins, revealing a shack on the outskirts of a village, a familiar street in London and a very familiar white building.

"Hmm." Dumbledore made a thoughtful noise with a sharp look in his eyes. "The one in Gringotts we'll have to leave for now. We can discuss that later. This one here seems to be in the order headquarters. Finally, this one" he pointed to the one at the edge of the village "is in a place that may be familiar to you. Little Hangleton, the place where Voldemort used your blood to return to life."

Dumbledore plucked that pin out, handing it to Harry "unless I'm very much mistaken, these pins should try and pull themselves towards a horcrux. It should be relatively weak, so you needn't worry about it ripping through your hand or clothes. You take that one. Hogwarts and the headquarters are more open to me since your memory charm and confundus require a little work. Yours is possibly most dangerous, but you are the one who can go missing for a while without raising alarms."

Dumbledore paused, before turning back to Harry "While I suspect you can apparate, I should need not remind you to avoid being detected, by either Voldemort _or_ the ministry. You must avoid letting people know that you can be elsewhere from where the ministry _thinks_ it is observing you."

"I know, I know. Leave it to me. I'll go on and grab this one, you get those two, and we'll be level on the Voldemort hunt. Wait, I destroyed the one in me, so it'll be my lead."

"Ah, but it was me who devised the means of destroying it, and kept you safe throughout the procedure." Dumbledore pointed out.

"That doesn't change the fact _I_ killed it" Harry countered.

The argument continued for a few minutes, until they grudgingly agreed they each got half a point for that one.

Before making his way out the chamber he picked up the spear, pressing down on the bottom of the shaft, it shrunk until he could fit it inside one of his pockets. Grabbing his cloak he left to go hunting a horcrux.

* * *

Harry Potter glared at the shack. Dumbledore had shared a little of Voldemort's history with him, so Harry was able to recognise that this was the Gaunt's shack. Home to magicals that had been little better than a waste of magic. Idiots that irrationally hated muggles, possibly because there were muggles that lived better off than they did.

They had been descendants of the Slytherin family. No doubt they had, at one point, had a great deal of magic that had been lost to time. As someone who had inherited a long magical tradition, he could understand why Voldemort had hated them. He himself might be upset if he were told that his father or grandfather had squandered and lost generations of magical knowledge. On that note, he should probably plan who to pass his family's knowledge to in the case of his demise.

The reason he was glaring at the shack was because he was unable to detect even rudimentary magical defences. He could not even see a ward that would repel muggles that might stumble upon this place. He took the pin out of the pocket where he had placed it. He felt a slight tug towards the shack. Unless Dumbledore had been mistaken, then there was almost certainly a horcrux inside.

He couldn't believe that Voldemort would hide something like a horcrux in such a place, with no magic to protect it. All his spells to diagnose wards came back negative. Getting here had not been difficult. He had apparated straight into the forest nearby, then walked over here while checking for any defences.

He flicked his wand at the ground. Mud came together, piling up until it took a human shape. He mentally directed the humanoid to enter the shack. The moment the figure touched the door, the snake impaled on the door glowed, and the figure fell to the ground, twitching.

Harry frowned. He had still not detected any wards. That meant that Voldemort had almost certainly found a means of hiding wards from detection. The sooner that guy was out the way, the better, Harry thought bitterly.

The day wasn't getting any younger. It had already turned to night, and he was still staring at the front door. He had to do something. Levelling the shack, while therapeutic, was probably a bad idea.

He pulled out his cloak. He hadn't identified everything that his cloak was capable of, not by a long shot, but unlike ordinary invisibility cloaks it possessed the ability to pass undetected through wards. Were he so inclined, he could easily sneak into the girl's dorm rooms. Something a bright red slap mark on Ron's face and Hermione not giving the cloak back for a week could attest. Well, at least it had told him his cloak was not a normal one.

He took a deep breath. Here's to hoping this works, Harry thought. The moment he made it through the door, it was as though the world exploded in colour. All the wards he could not see before appeared before his eyes.

Turning back to the door, he instantly understood what it was. You had to stroke the snake nailed to the door, offering it the proper respect, or you would be struck down. It seemed Voldemort had spent some time researching lore about various Gods and greater beings. Apparently that sort of thing was popular in temples to ancient Gods. He hadn't expected to see such a spell here, especially not with such a rotten snake body.

Turning back to the room, he had to force himself not to wince. There were dozens of wards. It seemed every drawer, every cupboard had its own nasty surprise. He looked at his pin. It was tugging towards the floor. With all the wards around, Harry couldn't make heads nor tails of them. Were he more experienced he might be able to separate them in his mind. As such, he should try and avoid using magic. It might react badly.

He rummaged around in his pockets, looking for something that could be used to pry up a floorboard. His exploding spear was no use in this situation. Finding nothing of use, he snuck back outside. A quick curse had a small branch off a tree, which he transfigured into a crowbar. Making his way back into the shack, he began prying up the floor.

Once it was out the way, he saw a golden ring, with a black stone set. His pin confirmed that it was what he was looking for. He could tell there was some magic in this small cubby hole. As he stared at it, trying to figure it out, he heard a noise behind him. Spinning round, an inferius lurched out of a cupboard. Cursing that he shouldn't use magic in the shack, he reached out and snatched the ring.

There was a small burning sensation in his hand. Looking over, he saw that the corpse of a snake was biting into his hand. Reaching over, he grabbed the snake, before throwing himself out the door just in time to avoid a clumsy strike from the inferius.

He took a quick half dozen steps from the shack, before turning back. The doorway had slowed the corpse, but it was charging at him again. Thinking quickly, he drew his wand and sent a burst of flames at it. Expecting it to lurch away from the flames, he was totally unprepared for the corpse to release a fiery explosion.

A magical modification, he mused, as he was forced to put up a shield to block the wave of heat, or had he filled the corpse with flammable gas? The burning sensation in his hand had him return his attention to the appendage. Where the snake had bitten him, the skin was turning grey. It looked like the skin was dying.

A quick glance told him the snake was completely motionless, its job done. Shifting his wand into that hand, he tapped his bitten hand with his wand. The hand turned blue as ice overtook it. Hopefully that would at least slow it down.

He quickly conjured a pot, putting the snake inside. It shouldn't be able to get out, the Potters knew how to make a pot after all he joked to himself. He then shrunk it, placing it in his pocket. He turned his attention to the ring. So much trouble over such a small thing.

Finally he proceeded to deal with all the flames the inferius had sent around. The shack had somehow come out entirely unscathed. Closing the door, he threw up some wards that should stop the muggles noticing anything. Hopefully. It would be inconvenient if word about this got out, somehow reaching Voldemort.

He was hit with a wave of nausea. Looking at his hand, he saw the dead patch was still spreading. The ice had slowed it down, but it was still spreading. He didn't have time to waste here. He disappeared with a crack.

* * *

He reappeared just outside Hogwarts. He immediately fell to his knees, retching. Damn it, he thought to himself, he had to find the old man, hopefully before whatever curse this was spread beyond his hand.

Somehow he managed to get through the wooden doors without attracting attention. As he stumbled his way towards Dumbledore's office, he was forced to stop and lean against the wall. It took every ounce of willpower not to scream out at the pain.

Despite hearing someone approach, he could do nothing to try and hide his presence as they neared. Finally, "…Harry?" came the voice of a girl.

Forcing his head up to get a look at the speaker, he tried to focus. "Wh… Susan?" he asked.

"Bloody hell, what's wrong Harry?" she asked, running over to him. Any other time he'd appreciate her… jiggling. But right now he had other concerns.

"…Nothing. I'm fine." He bit back a groan. "I'm just on my way to visit the headmaster."

"Fine? Look at your hand, its frozen solid!" She took a closer look "Fuck! What the hell is wrong with your hand?"

"…Just a little curse, it'll be fine." He lied.

Susan took out her wand, tapping it against his hand. "That's not a 'little curse', I've never read about anything like this, but it looks like something right out of you-know-who's grimoire. This curse is going to kill you Harry!"

"I've had worse." He mumbled.

She bit at her lip, looking between his hand and face. After a moment's deliberation, she began pulling him after her "Come with me." Harry didn't have much say in the matter since it felt like if she let go of his hand, he'd fall flat on his face.

* * *

Moments later Susan had dragged him into an unused classroom, throwing up a few privacy spells.

"If you wanted some fun, all you had to do was ask." Harry mumbled.

She slapped him. "Be serious! You might die you know!"

"That's my Godfather" he mumbled.

She slapped him again "Alright, I'm here." He said, having regained focus.

"Swear, swear that you won't tell anyone about this" she begged.

Seeing her like that, Harry gave her his oath. They both knew it didn't really mean anything, without a binder such an oath had little actual power, but she was relieved to hear it none the less.

Susan took a knife out of her robes. "Listen, my parents were killed in the war." She said, running the knife against the palm of her hand, crimson liquid flowing out, "my aunts and uncles, my cousins. Everyone but Auntie Amelia. As an Auror, I have no doubt she'd have died too. But you stopped him." She tapped her wand against the ice on his hand, shattering it. He grunted as the burning sensation intensified, the curse beginning to spread quicker again. She began rubbing her blood over the cursed area, and up his arm.

"I repaid that debt with harsh words when everyone thought you were the heir of Slytherin. It was… unforgivable. I had no idea how I could apologise for that."

Seeing him trying to speak she placed a hand at his lips, stopping him. "It may not matter to you, but it matters a great deal to me. That's why I'm doing this."

He noticed that the burning sensation was dulling.

"Listen, my family is a little special. For dozens of generations, the majority of my family members have been healers. We kept some of the most advanced healing spells to ourselves. People can't plot ways around spells they don't know, after all. But, that level of specialisation, over that many generations, it changed us. If you went to the main estate owned by my family, you'd feel the intense healing aura the moment you stepped through the door. It's on another level from St Mungos. That may have contributed too."

She paused, frowning at his hand. She poked it with her wand, casting several spells.

"In addition to a high aptitude towards healing magic, every part of our bodies are saturated with healing magic. For example, I could heal small injuries with my saliva, my blood, like this, should be able to heal even heavy injuries."

She paused, desperately searching his eyes, "We haven't told anyone about this. Can you imagine what people like you-know-who would do if he realised what getting his hands on us meant? If you weren't Harry Potter, and you weren't at Death's Door I don't know if I would be telling you this. Keeping the secret is that important to us."

She looked back at his hand. "Oh no, it's not enough." She muttered. "My blood, even with the spells backing it up can't break this curse."

"Don't worry" Harry told her, "I feel way better than I did before."

"You don't get it, unless you spend the rest of your life with my blood on your hand, it will continue to spread."

"Or I could lose the hand" Harry offered. "It would be a pain to lose my preferred wand hand, but I should be able to get over it."

She was biting at her lip again. "There is something else" she muttered. She averted her eyes, cheeks bright red. "A fluid with high anti-infection and curse properties."

It took him a moment to catch on. "No, oh no. That would be way to embarrassing."

"_You_ think it would be embarrassing? It will be humiliating for me!"

His cheeks were bright red at the idea, but he took comfort in the fact that hers were redder.

That said, losing his hand would make things much more difficult. If he could save it, then he had to do so.

"Alright, let's do this." He said.

"W-wait a minute. I've never done something like this before. I need a moment to prepare." She murmured, nervously glancing towards his face. If he didn't have more important things to concern himself with, it would have been adorable.

* * *

"You know, if you wanted to play with breasts so much, mine are available for use at any time." Came the amused voice of Daphne.

Harry glanced over his shoulder. Of all the people whom he didn't want to find out about this, person number one walks right in through the door. Of course she did. He sighed.

"D-Daphne, this isn't what it looks like!" Susan practically squeaked.

"Oh, it looks like little Miss Bones, who has never so much as held hands with a guy, has finally started playing with the boys. Is that not it?" she asked.

"I told you, it's not like that!"

"Then what is it?" Daphne asked in a sultry voice.

"I, that is, well, it's, err" Susan stammered.

It was as humiliating as hell, but he couldn't deny that it had removed the curse from his hand. Trying to reach his objective with only his weaker hand would have increased the difficulty by at least tenfold.

"Daphne, what are you doing here?"

She pouted "Is that any way to treat someone who came all this way to see you?"

At his flat expression she changed her answer "I sensed when you returned to the castle that you had suffered a fatal curse. I came to see if there was anything I could do. I see you decided to do someone else."

Harry blinked. He had not been expecting the concern he was hearing in her voice. He ignored the last part of her answer.

"I'm flattered. I didn't know you cared."

"Don't get me wrong Potter, I just don't want the man I've sworn to serve to die a pathetic death." She huffed.

He rolled his eyes. "Of course. Well don't worry, I don't intend to die anytime soon."

Her eyes flashed, "Yes, and that's what intrigues me. I know you were suffering a fatal curse. Yet Susan has apparently cured it?"

He felt Susan shift around anxiously.

"Daphne, swear a vow to not betray any Bones secrets. I'll act as the binder."

His command caused her to stiffen in irritation. Moments later she relaxed, "As _my lord_ commands." She purred, swaying over to them.

He glanced down at his hand. He had wiped it clean, but it still felt the warmness of Susan's blood and… other fluid.

Susan's breasts, largest in the year, if Seamus and Dean's gossip could be believed, had runes she had drawn in her blood over them. Apparently they enhanced the effect of the anti-curse properties. He supressed a grin at the thought of being the only guy to have seen such a sight.

Daphne knelt at his side, taking hold of one of Susan's hands. Harry laid his wand over the top of them, gold threads slipping out the wand, tying around the hands as they spoke.

With the vow finished, Daphne leaned back.

"So, want to explain it to me?" she asked.

Harry sat back, letting the two talk. From the various questions Daphne was asking, she was likely up to something. Susan had helped him freely out of good will, but her abilities were too useful to leave it at that. There had to be some way she could be of use to him. He felt dirty, thinking about someone who had helped him freely, but he couldn't afford to play nicely.

As Daphne was questioning her about the limitations of her family's ability, an idea suddenly struck Harry. Interrupting the conversation, Harry stared directly into her eyes. It wasn't 'magic', but he had been told the effect was intense. Ignoring the embarrassment they both felt, he made his request.

"Susan, I'd like your help in defeating Voldemort." He said bluntly. "But before you say anything, there are a few things I need to tell you, but I'll need _your_ vow to not reveal anything."

Susan looked nervously at him. An unbreakable vow was a big thin, not the kind of thing to be thrown around casually like he was doing. In the end, her desire to help him, as well as defeat Voldemort prevailed.

Once she was bound by the vow, he got straight to the point. "I'm aiming to become a sorcerer."

Susan paled. Her aunt was the Director of Magical Law Enforcement. Even if she were not, Susan would understand the importance of that declaration. Before she could say anything, he continued. He explained what he was hoping to accomplish. Why he thought it needed to be done. Why he needed her help.

The moment his goal had been stated, Daphne burst out laughing. "If you're going this far, then a ridiculous objective like that is what you should be aiming for. I already said it, but I'll help you with everything I have. But if you try and sacrifice me, I'll kill you."

Susan sat silently for several minutes, thinking over what he had told her. He had not brought it up, but she knew as well as he did that should she wish it, he could remove her memory of the conversation, letting her get back to her life in peace. She knew what it would be risking to offer him her help. But even so…

She took a deep breath. "Alright, I'll help you." She exhaled, as though all the tension had left her. A bit strange, given what she had agreed to.

"Alright, then step one. Defeating Voldemort. This is the idea that occurred to me." He explained what he wanted to do, asking if she thought it was possible. After a moment's thought, she confirmed that, as far as her side of things went, it should work.

Harry let out a slow breath. If it panned out, it should bridge the gap between him and Voldemort when the time came.

Shortly after, Susan excused herself, saying she had to think about what he had told her.

"Hey Susan" Daphne called after her. As she turned to look back "I'm putting together a ritual, would you mind doing a little collaboration?"

"I don't mind" Susan said, before leaving.

"A collaboration?" Harry asked.

She shrugged "The biggest risk with this kind of ritual is the strain it puts on the body. Her… abilities should lessen that strain."

"I see." Harry said, getting to his feet.

"By the way, I'm surprised you asked for help. It doesn't seem like you."

Harry glanced at her "I intend to do all the fighting myself. That hasn't changed. That said, I know things don't always go as planned. Then there's the fact that I'm well aware no one can do everything. I am really bad at the little healing magic I've attempted. Her help in that area may be indispensable.

"Is that so? Anyway, now that we're alone, how about we have some _fun?_"

"Sorry, but I have to go visit the old man." He said dryly.

"A pity" Was all she said.

* * *

"Am I to assume then, Harry, that you successfully managed to retrieve the horcrux?" Dumbledore asked, staring at him over his half-moon glasses.

In response Harry drew out the pot containing the snake, and the ring he had retrieved, placing the pot on the table. "This is the horcrux," Harry said, holding up the ring, "and the snake in the jar delivered a pretty nasty curse. Don't worry, I got better."

"Yes, and I dare say we have Miss Bones to thank for that."

Harry stared at him for several moments. "One of these days you're going to tell me how you seem to know everything that goes on in this castle."

"Let an old man have his secrets. More importantly, may I take a look at this ring Harry?"

"Sure." Harry said, flicking it over. Dumbledore caught it, examining it carefully.

"I see. So that's it. To think two of the three would come into your possession."

"Hmm?"

"Nothing. Although, maybe we need to make a slight alteration to our agreement Harry."

"How so?" Harry asked.

"Let us deal with that matter later." Dumbledore dismissed it. "For now," he got up, taking the sword of Gryffindor from where it rested. "What do you know of Goblin Steel?" he asked.

"Not a lot," Harry replied "apparently it gets stronger with use."

Dumbledore nodded "yes indeed. It assimilates things it comes into contact with. This sword for example, acts as though it is coated with Basilisk Venom. Of course, given the goblins have not accepted a commission to make such a weapon in recorded history and always ask for the blades to be returned at the buyer's death, I suspect it is more than likely they are, in fact, unable to create such blades and have a finite amount. Which leaves the question, who did create them? No matter, it has no bearing on the matter at hand."

He drew out a diadem and a locket from his robes, placing them on the desk. He sighed. "I cannot forgive Voldemort for desecrating the artefacts left behind by our founders. What secrets of magic they might hold… and yet I have no recourse but to destroy them." He struck the diadem with the sword. It cracked, a black mist leaking out screaming.

He then struck the locket. Nothing happened. He tried again to the same effect.

"Performance issues?" Harry asked.

Dumbledore chuckled "Quiet you. A snake… Harry, would you tell it to open?"

Harry did so. "In parseltongue Harry."

Harry frowned, "that's what I was trying to do."

Neither spoke for a moment. "Maybe we should have held off on getting rid of Voldemort's soul from me?" Harry mused.

Dumbledore clicked his fingers. "My Pensieve. We get your memory of speaking parseltongue, and play it at the locket."

"Worth a shot."

Sometime later they had a broken locket on the desk. "Well that was enough of a hassle."

"Out of curiosity Harry, how have you been getting to the Chamber of Secrets if you can't speak Parseltongue?"

"Well, first things first, after watching me in the pensieve, I was getting the feeling I was remembering how to speak it, so I may be able to regain the ability if you lend me your pensieve. But to answer your question, I found a bunch of other entrances that don't need parseltongue. One in the seventh year Slytherin girl's dorm, one in the sixth year's, one in the Slytherin quidditch teams girl's showers, one on the first floor girl's bathroom, one in the prefects bathroom, one in the head girl's room, err, I think that was all the entrances I found. Slytherin liked to show girls the snake in his private chamber, I presume."

"I see. That's more than I wish to know about the founder. Regardless, moving on, if you care to destroy your Horcrux?"

Harry tapped the ring with the sword. The ring cracked, oddly leaving the stone unharmed. As the black mist faded away, Dumbledore returned to his seat. "Now that our horcrux kill count is level, let us return to the matter of our agreement."

* * *

Harry emerged from the fireplace into a large dingy room. He almost fell flat on his face, of course.

"Harry, what a surprise to see you here at this time."

Harry glanced over. Sirius was sat in an armchair, an open bottle of firewhiskey next to him, with a mostly empty glass in his hands.

"Sirius. I have a plan to defeat Voldemort. I need your help."

Sirius leaned forward, a grin on his face. "Oh, tell me more."

"Tell me, your family has a lot of information regarding curses right?"

Sirius snorted "They probably have more information regarding how to make people suffer than anyone else in the world." He said bitterly.

"I need to curse an entire bloodline." Harry said bluntly.

Sirius' eyes widened "That's some pretty dark stuff Harry. A lot of those curses are incredibly hard to remove. They require sacrifice. As your Godfather, I can't let you do something so reckless."

"First of all, I don't want to hear about reckless decisions from you," Harry said wryly.

"The fact that I've made so many is proof I know what I'm talking about" he said seriously.

"Second, I've considered the risks. Sirius." Harry fixed him with a stare "Trust me."

They stared at each other for several minutes, neither willing to give in. Sirius finally sighed, looking away. "Alright, I'll trust you know what you're doing. Gods, you reminded me of Lily just then."

"Thank you." Harry said, relieved.

He got up. "All right, I'll take you into the part of the library where that kind of thing is kept."

He smiled sadly "At least my parents will be rolling in their graves that a Potter will be using their knowledge against the Dark Lord."

* * *

Sona was lost in her thoughts as she waited in front of the gargoyle to the headmaster's office. She'd heard a fair amount about Harry Potter from his red headed friend. But there was something the headmaster had said to him that was bothering her. She wanted to hear answers to those questions, and she felt that Harry himself may be less than willing to answer. Thus, she was brought to the headmaster's office to hear those answers.

As she stood there, the gargoyle moved aside, clearing the path up the stairs. She was a bit surprised, she hadn't spoken the password yet. None the less, she made her way up to his office.

"Ah, Miss Sitri. I do hope you have been enjoying your stay at Hogwarts."

She nodded her head "It's been informative."

"Good, good, that is why Hogwarts exists, after all. But I sense this is not a casual visit. While I, in my advanced age, enjoy taking my time before getting down to business, I understand that the young can have less patience. Please, feel free to ask your questions. I am a teacher after all."

"…Right. It's about occlumency, I think it was. I couldn't find any information about it."

Dumbledore nodded. "With my words to young Harry, I daresay I have been expecting a question regarding this. What would you like to know?"

She adjusted her glasses. "What is it?"

"And why does Harry's aptitude disturb me, I suppose? Very well. Allow me to explain, as best I can." He steepled his hands in front of his face. "To put it in its most basic wording, it is the discipline of protecting one's mind from intrusion. Or rather, it can be used to expel intruders from your mind by forcing them to experience any pain you remember feeling, or it can be used more subtly by suppressing any memories or feelings that would contradict what you want them to think. Ordinarily this isn't too bad. Supressing such things can lead to… personality issues, it is true, but it is something that can be dealt with. Harry takes this to extremes. Rather than 'supressing', it may be more accurate to say he erases. Rather than 'remembering' it may be more accurate to say he creates."

He got a faraway look in his eyes. "He didn't have proper teaching, he assumed it worked that way, thus it came to work that way. This is what separates magic from science, I suppose. Something many muggleborns unfortunately have trouble realising. Back to the topic at hand though, I see you understand the implications. Harry's feelings regarding everything, his every memory, he is well aware they could be delusions he has cooked up. To hear him tell it, if he is doing it carefully, if you were to tell him something, say, your birthday, he would be able to recall when that date, just erasing the entire memory of having that conversation with you. He would have no recollection of obtaining that information. He has also indicated that he can retain fragments with which he can recreate his memories. To be honest, had we more time, I would love to study how he does it. A most fascinating skill. As well as disturbing, I suppose."

"However, all of that said, it cannot be denied that it is an impressive skill. He is proud of this fact, but he is incapable of casting the killing curse, even at Voldemort. He simply doesn't have a strong enough hate to use it. He can use his occlumency to counteract that. It is not a good thing, that curse leaves a mark on whomsoever casts it that goes much deeper than the mind, but no doubt Harry will need the power of that curse chasing his objective."

"When I told him his aptitude was concerning, it is because if he plays around with his mind on that level too much, then he could lose track of 'who' he is with absurd ease. Well, I have faith in him. As a teacher, I should not say this, but, he is, without a doubt, my favourite student in my long years teaching at this school."

While Sona was thinking over what she had been told, the headmaster suddenly looked up. After a moment he sighed. "Alas my dear, it seems we will have to cut this short. It seems Delores simply must try and irritate me at all the most inconvenient times. Now, if you would care to return to Gryffindor tower, you can escape without having to listen to that woman speak. My door is always open. Feel free to return should you have any questions."

* * *

Sona had been acting weirdly for the past few days. Every time she saw him she had a pensive look on her face. She had asked when he would switch her out with Rias. He had told her after the ritual Daphne had devised. He would be performing it that evening after all. Apparently Daphne had convinced a mortified Susan to donate some components. Several other things she had retrieved from her home. Combined with the things he had already obtained for various reasons, she assured him it would work. This ritual would likely be the single most expensive thing he would attempt. He had required to get almost as much Dragons blood as an adult dragon had in its body, which then had to be specially prepared.

Since he was standing (unsurprisingly since it was a ritual Daphne devised he and everyone else were starkers) next to Daphne Susan and Sona, preparing for the ritual, it was a little late to back out now. The girls had strange patterns Daphne had painted on them in what looked a bit like blood. Unlike them, he had a paste that used dragons blood spread all over his body (that Daphne had enjoyed spreading over him).

A large cauldron was sat in the centre of a ritual circle. The contents of the cauldron were bubbling away gently. Blushing madly, Susan walked forwards and emptied the contents of a jar into the cauldron as Daphne stirred it. Harry could sense power thrumming through Daphne and the surrounding air. The entire chamber felt 'alive'. She was using her family technique to draw on the power of the world. Next Sona stepped forward, a slight blush on her face, slicing open her hand with the ritual dagger he had obtained from Daphne's family and adding her blood to the mix. The fumes were making him a bit light headed.

Finally he stepped forward, adding his own blood with the ritual knife passed to him from Sona. Drinking down a horrible looking potion Daphne passed him, he climbed into the cauldron.

His last thought was that Daphne's grin really didn't give him confidence…

* * *

He woke up. He could tell that since it felt like Buckbeak had taken up residence in his head and was going crazy. "Uggh, did someone get the name of that hippogriff?" he muttered, wincing at the sound of his own voice.

He looked around. The lights of the chamber hurt his eyes, but three naked bodies were laid out around him. A glance left no doubt as to the activities they'd been getting up to. He winced. Maybe trusting Daphne so much was a bad idea?

"Good morning Harry." Came the pleasant voice of Dumbledore. Well, it would have been pleasant had Harry not shouted out at the sudden noise, causing him more pain.

"Dumbledore? What the hell happened last night?" he rasped out.

The old man considered him for a moment. "How much do you remember?" he asked.

"I was getting into a cauldron…?"

"I see." Dumbledore said, with a thoughtful look.

"Well, I have some good news and some funny news. Let me start with the good news. I can confirm you became an aspiring sorcerer. It was felt around the world by those who know how to look, but the potent concealing magic around the chamber means no one was able to grasp your location."

Harry closed his eyes. That was good. "Then the bad news?"

"Not bad news" Dumbledore corrected "Funny news. While the ritual was a success, it appears to have had an adverse effect on your mind.

He sighed "What happened?"

"You appear to have gone streaking through the halls."

"Huh?"

"No one saw you, but you traumatised some house elves when you broke into the kitchens demanded treacle tart as tribute for the man whose, ah, drill, will pierce the heavens."

Harry winced. What the hell?

"After that you decided to go skinny dipping in the black lake. Whilst there you declared that the mermaid chief's daughter was the hottest fish you'd ever seen, and would be accepted as part of your harem." Dumbledore paused looking thoughtful "I was unaware you had learnt Mermish Harry."

He hadn't. Then he remembered what the merpeople of the black lake _looked_ like. "I think I'm going to be sick."

"When the menfolk of the tribe tried to escort you back to the lake edge you attempted to, ahem, piss on them. A gesture which seemed to confuse them since you were underwater."

"Oh God." He muttered, mortified, his hand on his face.

"When I came to retrieve you, you shouted something about 'how you wouldn't be manipulated and controlled by my wrinkly old arse' and swam off."

Harry just groaned.

"Yes, quite. You then made your way to the forbidden forest."

"I don't want to hear this."

"You proceeded to vault onto the back of the centaur chieftain's daughter, told her to 'ride on my faithful steed' and use her breasts as a means of steering.

"…"

"You then proceeded to fling your, ah, faecal matter at the acromantula nest, shouting 'this is for Ron, you shitty spiders!'"

He looked at his hands in shock.

"Don't worry, you decided to clean your hands before you rode the centaur back to the castle."

"…"

"All in all, a pretty enjoyable Halloween don't you think?" Dumbledore asked.

"…"

It was that moment that Daphne decided to wake up. Stretching up, yawning, she looked around blearily. "Oh, headmaster. Good morning."

"Good morning Miss Greengrass."

She looked around. "What happened last night?" she asked sleepily. "It's kind of a blacked out blur, but I'm pretty sure it was awesome."

* * *

**A.N. And thus it ends. The longest chapter I've written to date, for any story. Still not happy about the occlumency, I couldn't quite figure out to get what I had in my head onto the page. Got bored of trying again and again. **

**As one might guess, when the time for the Black family curses comes around, it's going to be pretty gruesome. (The naked prancing around cliché has already been taken after all.) Just a heads up. **

**By my (tentative) plans, events regarding his conflict with Voldemort, which ties him to England in many respects, should start picking up the pace now.**


	5. Chapter 5

**A.N. First things first. I read volumes 6 and 7 of the light novels. They were pretty good. They had some good drama going on (cartoonishly evil enemies aside). Then Issei opened his mouth. Dear God, it's like he's the anti-drama or something. I know most of my authors notes have mentioned this, so it's probably becoming repetitive and irritating to read, but he is really annoying me. **

**Last chapter was pretty well received. That's nice. Someone felt the ritual was out of place. Perhaps, I didn't intend for it to be random 'for the lols', I'll explain what happened this chapter. Hope it's acceptable. **

**In response to a separate review, I was trying to avoid tying things down with too many details. I'll try and add them in, though it may rack up the mistakes I make.**

**Someone also claimed the shielding bit at the beginning felt forced. Well, that may be true. I was trying to place Sona as being a bit more analytical. Harry wasted a lot of effort shielding almost everything, which he might have been able to dodge. **

**Hmm, in this chapter, Azkaban break out. In canon, I believe it took place after Christmas. I had it done on Halloween. The plot demanded it. Apologies.**

**About the soul shuffle with Rias. He doesn't act more like Rias, he gets angrier, more prideful, more 'greedy' etc. Typical devil traits. How he deals with that is on him. **

**Regarding the centaur's name; shout out for the win :) **

**Some people have been reviewing along the lines of 'Harry should be a devil, a wizard is utterly powerless compared to a devil' (you know who you are.) True, in canon, the comparative power levels do look completely unaligned. However, they are different magic styles. If I wanted (read, probably won't) I could make a standard protego shield deflect Rias' power of destruction attack. Restating; I won't, but I can look at it and say 'fuck power levels, magic' or, 'a wizard did it'. People arbitrarily decide wizard magic can do nothing to devil magic. The example I gave won't happen, but don't dismiss what wizards are capable of out of hand. **

**One that gets to me is 'the killing curse only works on muggles and wizards. Angels, devils, fallen and even magicians are immune to it' that one author has done. Yeah, the killing curse **_**kills. **_**Hypothetically let's say Sirzechs, Satan and ultimate class devil that he is, is walking down the street, a random death eater throws a killing curse. Being the badass he is, he thinks 'a puny attack like that will do nothing' or, if he's being generous he throws up a barrier. The curse would hit him, **_**he's dead. No ifs or buts!**_** A devils magical barrier? Does fuck all. Killing curse goes through it like paper. A spell that goes through magical defences? Goes through magical defences. I will probably make an exception for 'Gods'. Anything else? Probably not. If that upsets people, screw you. I'm typically open to changing things that are poorly received, but I'm not changing that. **

**On that note, I put in a couple of scenes where devils and wizards have a little match. I hesitate to call them battles. I had always intended this sort of scene, so it's not like it was created in response to those claims. Except it was, just before I started this story. I expect much hate over the scenes. I am open to changing details, but the way the scenes go will not be changed. I'll have another author's note at the end about it in more detail.**

* * *

Daphne was sat on the bed, looking around sleepily. Looking around, Harry found and picked up his wand. He quickly conjured some clothes for himself, and a duvet over the sleeping forms of Sona and Susan. He followed up with an enervate at Daphne, returning her to full wakefulness.

"Uhh, unpleasant. You couldn't have found a nicer way to wake me up properly?" she grumbled.

"Daphne." Harry said in an emotionless voice, keeping a hard check on his anger, and his throbbing head. "Dumbledore just told me about some events that transpired last night."

After Dumbledore took great pleasure in revealing said events to Daphne, she frowned. "That wasn't supposed to happen."

"Oh" Harry replied "You mean you didn't drug me with god know what for your own amusement?"

She winced, "No, I did, but let me explain."

She paused, taking a deep breath, seemingly not caring at all about her nudity in front of the headmaster and him. Well, Dumbledore didn't seem to care either, and he had more pressing concerns. "Look, you know about the power of three right? In the case of the human existence, it is 'mind, body and spirit'. These three aspects of a person are linked. A change to one influences the other two. The ritual yesterday, it was basically amount to modifying every cell in your body on a genetic level."

"Wait, you know about genetics?" he asked, surprised.

She huffed "While it's true we may disdain muggle culture, many families understand that the muggles can't understand the true meaning of much they research. Therefore, _we_ may as well put it to use. My family has put a lot of that information to use in refining rituals. Anyway, back to my point. Your body was under a lot of strain, Susan helped, but not to the point of erasing that strain. It naturally would also put strain on your mind. Combined with that, I threw in some aspects for enhancing your mind. Before you say anything, human minds are not built to contain 'forbidden knowledge'. If you obtained a sorcery, it could snap your mind, even if your body can withstand its power."

She paused, fixing him with a stare "The combined strain of the changes to your mind and body may have driven you insane. There were two options worth considering. First, induce an abnormal mind state, sort of like taking classes in another room so the first can be redecorated. Second, I could have put you in a coma for the changes, but I have no idea when you'd wake up, it could be weeks. I assumed you wanted to stay active to keep your plans on track."

Harry said nothing for a moment. "You're right, I would have chosen staying awake rather than comatose."

She nodded, "Right. That meant I had to 'relax' your mind. My family has a wealth of information regarding that kind of thing" she said proudly.

"No doubt." Harry muttered.

Dumbledore finally interjected after a couple of seconds of silence. "Am I to assume then, that yours, Miss Bones' and Sitri's state of dress was a method of keeping him occupied in his mentally deficient state?"

"That's right. While nudity has a lot of interesting meanings in rituals, part of it was of course to make Harry pounce on and ravish us the entire night." Daphne said happily. "He would be too busy to get into trouble. The mind altering incense to make the others 'in the mood' so to speak. While I think I could normally take him, the power running through him thanks to the ritual meant I had to prepare back-ups."

She frowned again. "It seems it wasn't enough though. Now I'm even more excited to… enjoy you, whilst in a more normal state of mind."

"You couldn't have informed me about that beforehand?" he asked.

"Indeed, I could have sealed him in the chamber, unable to get into trouble." Dumbledore said, stroking his beard.

Daphne winced "Information on sorcerers is pretty scarce, I thought I had it covered, all right?"

"You mean you couldn't waste a chance to get me in bed, right?"

"…Hahaha?"

Harry sighed.

"Anyway!" Daphne tried to move the conversation along, "on that front, any desire to have a second round, any change in how you feel about me?"

"Aside from an intense irritation, not really."

"Damn. It seems you can shrug off my compulsion."

"So you were trying to subvert me." Harry deadpanned.

"Can't blame a girl for trying." Daphne shrugged off his accusation.

Harry sighed, before glancing at the headmaster.

Dumbledore was looking away. "Don't mind me, I seem to have temporarily gone deaf, not privy to your conversation which, as headmaster, I'd have to act on, at all." He said serenely.

Harry sighed again. He focused, erasing his anger. While Daphne had been somewhat out of line, he couldn't deny she was making sense. He hadn't even considered enhancing his mind. That was a massive oversight on his part. Besides, he'd seen the… hedonism at Daphne's home first hand. He should have expected something like this.

"Alright. I accept that you at least were trying to help me. But you get to explain it to them" he said, gesturing at the two sleeping girls.

Daphne winced. Susan could easily be dealt with, but there was little telling how Sona would react. Based on what he knew of her, she wouldn't be happy.

* * *

Harry rubbed at his eye. To say Sona was unhappy was a vast understatement. As his black eye could attest. Thankfully she was angry enough that she didn't consider using magic. Though he would have caught that quickly enough that he could have stopped her. He felt it was a little unfair, it was totally Daphne's fault, not his. Oh well, she had a right to be angry he guessed.

Susan on the other hand was much more accepting (the phrase 'If it's Harry, I don't mind' may have made an appearance, soft enough he barely heard it) but she still didn't heal the bruise he received from Sona.

Daphne had revealed (after Sona had been sent home and Susan had left the chamber) that she had set up a modified set of omnioculars he had made for her family (he had no idea why they wanted them. They were basically a security camera) to catch the entire ritual. After viewing it, he had to admit he wished he could remember it. Like Daphne had said, it looked pretty awesome.

He looked down at the newspaper Dumbledore had dropped off before he left. It seemed Voldemort had used Halloween to his advantage, releasing many of his servants from Azkaban. The paper had blamed it on Sirius, not surprising really, though the fact it occurred on Halloween, the anniversary of Voldemort's defeat may have people wondering whether there was merit to what Dumbledore and he had been claiming.

He looked around the chamber. A lot of his supplies had been used up. The majority of his Dragon's blood, the main component in the ritual. It had left its effects on his body. Slightly larger build (though not to the extent of Malfoy's bookends. He just looked less scrawny), slightly more muscled, but the most noticeable effect (to him, at any rate) were his eyes. He no longer needed glasses, and his eyes had changed, looking more draconic than human. That was fine, he could just wear sunglasses, claim he was emulating Dumbledore's eccentricity.

He had obtained a lot of magically treated stone. That had been used up. He eyed the large golems he had fashioned. It was a little outside of his family's expertise, but they still had notes about it. Thirteen large golems, and a few smaller ones. The larger ones had an important task later, getting them finished now was convenient, he may not get much time to devote to them later. The smaller ones were constructed in case he needed them while chasing down other components for his final objective. Several different protective items, several other magical objects he may need at some point. He had no real idea about the difficulties he might face, so preparing a broad spectrum of tools was one of the few ways he could prepare.

His stash of exotic components was mostly used up, the ritual Daphne had designed had been expensive. His family had left behind a fair bit of money, their own stockpile of rare materials, but it was no way near enough to explain what he had gathered here. He had had no recourse but to sell his services as a crafter. People were willing to pay a lot for top tier craftsmanship. Building up such a reputation at such a young age had been troublesome, especially given he needed to remain anonymous, something Dumbledore had somehow managed to help him accomplish. Thusly, he had managed to acquire a wide array of materials without people raising suspicions.

In addition, a lot of people with more money than sense had paid for his services, people that he knew he may be acting against later. That in itself was a strong advantage.

He looked towards a rather shoddy looking fireplace. It was barely deserving of the name, but he'd created it for the purpose of setting up his own floo network. The ministry no doubt had no idea that someone could set up such a system without their notice. His family had not always been so well natured as it had appeared recently, especially when the promise of obtaining new crafting techniques were hanging over them, as the creator of the floo system found out to their mortal surprise. He'd set up headquarters with a connection to this floo, thus giving him a means of getting back there if needed with the ministry none the wiser.

He had already summoned Rias. She had seemed happy to see him, and had gone to take his classes without any issue. He'd probably have to talk with her about various things later.

He'd finished cleaning up after the ritual. In addition to being added into the cauldron, several plants had been scattered around the floor. Coriander, symbolising hidden worth. Hollyhock, signifying ambition. Oak cuttings, signifying strength. Lilies, symbolising purity, but also rebirth. Harry wasn't sure about the relevance, but Daphne had insisted that even simple flowers had a great deal of power.

Re'em blood. Drunk directly, it gave the drinker great physical strength for a short period of time. Daphne had used up the little he had managed to get a hold of, (It was absurdly rare. He'd been forced to make some interesting toys for Malfoy to get his hands on it) but promised the increased strength should be permanent. He looked down at his hand. He certainly felt stronger, he felt better than he had in a long time. Probably ever.

Powdered Unicorn horn, unicorn main hairs. Several crushed bezoars. He hadn't had even half the time he would need to figure out everything her ritual had done to him.

Shortly before leaving she told him she had broken into the house of, and stolen the blood from a metamorphmagus. The ritual should have given him that ability. He hadn't figured out how to activate it though. She had claimed that it helped his body undergo the transformation process, as well as that such a power would come in handy if he ended up on the run. He had to agree, though she had smugly told him she mainly did it because 'just think of the things you could do with _it_, you could make _it_ prehensile'. He shuddered at her thought processes. He had then recalled there was currently only one registered metamorph in Europe. Daphne had fled before he came to that conclusion.

He then winced as he recalled what he had done the night before. The mermaids were surprisingly okay with the situation. They felt that being young and stupid was fine, among the young. His age apparently meant they weren't too unhappy about the events, that, or they had a sense of humour.

Unfortunately, the same could not be said of the centaurs. Dumbledore had not been able to smooth it over the way he had with the mermaids, so he would have to go and do it in person. If they went to war over this (something they were likely to do given their absurdly massive sense of pride) the ministry would come after him for sure. He really wanted to at least deal with Voldemort before that happened, though the longer he could put off that confrontation, the better.

So, he had to find a way to placate the stupid ponies' ego. He took a deep breath, focusing his occlumency on erasing the arrogance that crept into his mind ever since the soul shuffle he had performed with Rias. While it safely got rid of the fragment of Voldemort's soul, it was really being more trouble than it was worth, he thought bitterly.

* * *

"Not only did you jump upon my daughters back and call her a steed, you dared to assault her breasts!" An old looking centaur roared. Harry was looking directly at him, keeping the boredom off his face. This was fast becoming a major pain.

"Look, I already explained, an acquaintance of mine drugged me with some pretty nasty stuff, I had and have no idea about the events that occurred!" He explained, exasperated.

"So you think we should just forgive you for being an idiot then!"

"I already apologised, and offered to make it up to you! I have no intention of offering you my head, or letting you take it! Come up with a reasonable compromise, you shitty horse!" Whoops. Damn, Rias soul affected him down to his soul, deeper than his occlumency could reach. Looked like being a diplomat wasn't in his future if he couldn't stop his anger flaring randomly.

The old centaur drew up in outrage. Before he could say anything, a female voice interrupted him.

"Settle down, father."

Harry looked over. Given her words, she was likely the chief's daughter. The centaur he had ridden last night. His eyes flicked towards her chest for a moment. Yeah, they were inhuman.

She bowed her head. "Greetings Harbinger." She said formally.

"Huh?"

"My daughter, you must not give out the secrets of our tribe." The chief said angrily.

"The stars tell that a time of great change is approaching, that the fate of the world might be overturned. The Harbinger is at the centre of it all."

"Yes, I am well aware of what the stars say my daughter, I taught you to read them after all."

She nodded "Yes, you did. But do you remember father? We used to take a wider role in the world, we shared our wisdom with the humans. True, they stopped caring for our wisdom, arrogantly thinking they knew better than us. But we retreated into our forests, stopped taking interest in the affairs of the world. Was that correct? Should we have tried harder?"

There was angry mutterings from the crowd. "Yes, you have made these views before, my daughter. They have no bearing on the matter at hand."

She shook her head. "I disagree father. The Harbinger rode upon my back, and I was unable to throw him off. By the ancient traditions of our tribe, I name him my intended."

Wait, What? Harry, who had been looking around, paying little attention to the words swung his head around with speed that for a moment he feared he had broken his neck.

"Have you lost your mind, Daughter? He is but a wizard. The traditions do not apply to him!" the chief roared. The angry mutterings intensified, and Harry nervously noted they were holding onto weapons. Fighting his way out would definitely escalate quickly. He wanted to avoid that.

"The traditions make no mention of the species of the male!"

"Because it is obvious!"

"Regardless, as my intended, there is no cause to hold his actions against him." She stated, as if that settled the matter.

Harry edged away from the rapidly heating up argument.

"I will not allow my daughter, the pride of the tribe, to lower herself to be with a wizard!"

"It is not for you to decide! Besides, you know as well as I that he is the Harbinger, the bringer of change. Will he succeed? Will the world he creates be better or worse than the current world? The stars do not say. Thus, I wish to see the answer with my own eyes."

The chief was silent a moment. "I had hoped you would grow out of this wanderlust, my daughter. If you persist in this madness, there will be no recourse but to expel you from the tribe. Will you follow this through, no matter what?"

"I will." She said resolutely.

"…Then go. There is no longer a place for you here." He said, turning away.

"Ummm, if I may interject?" Harry said into the silence.

"No. You have already cost me my daughter, wizard. Leave, and do not darken us with your presence again."

With that, the centaurs left, taking their angry mutterings with them. Soon, it was only the female centaur left in the clearing with him. Harry stood completely still, trying to figure out what happened.

The centauride stretched her arms above her head. Harry tore his attention away from what that did to her exposed chest.

"Ahhh, sorry about that Harbinger. I did not intend to do that when I came to speak in your defence. Your aura is strong, it seems."

Harry took a deep breath. Calm, he told himself, calm. "May I ask what that was about?"

"Of course. As I said, I came to speak in your defence. It may be considered a strong attack on the pride of the centaur, but honestly, I thought it was amusing. My father knew he would not be able to take your head, you are chosen by the fates. I saw no reason to drag things out. About my exile… do not worry yourself. I have always been curious about the land outside the forests. It saddens me to know I will not be able to return, but… the stars will guide me."

"That's nice and all, but I was more interested in the part where you named me your intended."

"Yes, I daresay you are. You are the Harbinger of change. The stars do not say how your story ends, so I wish to see it for myself. Naming you my intended was just an excuse. I will have to return to the tribe to retrieve my things and receive the mark of the exile, so you may end up being the only man I may partner with. Do not worry. While I know that wizards are uniquely adaptable when it comes to making hybrids, I am aware that you may not be… physically equipped, to deal with me."

Harry pulled a hand up to rub at his face. "Not really what I meant. I have things to do, I won't be able to drag you around with me."

The centauride dismissed his words. "Like I said, do not worry. I simply intend to observe you. Although" she eyed his body "Maybe I should train you. It will be just like the stories of old. I suspect you will be the first human taught by a centaur in centuries."

He looked at her. She was not wearing clothes (a centaur custom, it seemed) but she was carrying several weapons. He saw a spear, sword and bow (and few quivers). Centaurs did teach heroes in the legends. He generally had little interest in physical combat, but maybe learning what she could teach would be helpful?

He sighed. "Fine, I'll let you tag along. I'll even try and figure out a way for you to blend in with humans." It seemed he was just picking up troublesome people.

She bowed "My thanks, Harbinger."

That was going to get real old, real fast, he just knew it.

"So, what's your name? I can't just keep calling you 'centauride'." He asked.

"Oh my," she raised a hand to her mouth "you rode upon my back, groped my breasts, and you do not even know my name?"

His eye twitched.

"Very well. You may have trouble pronouncing my name, so you may just call me Cerea."

* * *

He had relocated Cerea to the chamber of secrets. There was an exit to the forbidden forest, so she should be able to enjoy the forests at her leisure. Apparently not being under the stars for too long had an adverse effect on centaurs.

Since his escapades of the night before had been dealt with, he set about creating something to let the centaur appear human. The bracelet he had the devils wear was not suitable, it just made people 'see' him when they looked at them. The centaur was a bit too different in shape from him for that to work.

He frowned. He had made some progress, but it wasn't good enough. He'd have to examine Sirius' animagus transformation to refine it. Well, it didn't matter. Cerea didn't seem to be in too much of a hurry to accompany him around.

He noticed the fireplace turn a pale green, different from the normal green of floo travel. Turning to watch, he was unsurprised when Sirius came out. Only Dumbledore and Sirius knew of the secret floo, and the old man had his own ways of getting around.

"Sirius." Harry greeted. He was used to things popping up as soon as it would be convenient. Probably some subconscious fate manipulation. Or luck.

"Harry." Sirius greeted with a serious expression. "I came here regarding our discussion from last time, but there's something I need to discuss with you first." Finally catching sight of the centaur he amended his words. "Harry, not going to introduce me to your lovely friend?"

"Sirius, this is Cerea, a centaur. Cerea, this mutt is my Godfather, Sirius Black."

"I am afraid I am unfamiliar with that phrase, am I to assume he is someone you hold in high regard?"

Harry nodded "He is."

"I see." She turned to Sirius, bowing deeply. "It is a pleasure to make your acquaintance, Sirius Black. To use human phrases, I believe you would call me the Harbinger's fiancée."

"Is that so? In that case, please look after Harry. He's an idiot who sometimes forgets to think things through."

"You know, I'm _right_ here. Also, please don't call me an idiot, I put more thought into things than you do."

"Touché. Anyways, Cerea, do you mind if I talk to Harry for a moment?"

"Not at all. I shall be over there if you need me."

After she had left, Sirius turned to Harry. "So. Harbinger, fiancée?"

"Some centaur thing. Don't worry about it."

"I see. Then, back to what I came here for." He adopted a serious expression. "Do you see this Harry?" he gestured at his face "this is my Sirius face. I use it for Sirius conversations."

"Please stop doing that Sirius."

The man broke into a grin. "Dumbledore told me about what you did last night. Man, I'm so proud. Lily would be furious, but James would be high fiving so hard I can practically feel it on my hand. To think you flirted with a Centaur and Mermaid. We never tried that. Didn't really want to with the mermaids, but man, you have balls to ride a centaur."

"It wasn't intentional. I was drugged. By Daphne Greengrass."

Sirius gained a thoughtful look "Greengrass, Greengrass. Where do I know that name?" His eyes widened in recognition "Right! I remember now. Had a nasty little compulsion spell triggered by sex. But damn, she was great in the bedchamber. Even played with ol' Padfoot, if you know what I mean."

Harry shuddered. "And now I remember why I don't talk to you that often."

Sirius laughed it off. "Anyway, Here." He pulled something out of his pocket, handing it to Harry. "You need this to cast the curse you were looking at."

Harry frowned at it, his eyes widening as he realised what it was. "Is this…?"

Sirius grimaced. "Yeah. It's pretty gruesome. It's a cursed object itself. My family made sure it saw a lot of use. That cursed the damn thing. Its ability to inflict curses is enhanced thanks to that."

Harry grimaced as he set the thing down on a nearby table. "And suddenly I'm trying to think of another way to do this."

"It's not too late to back out Harry." He said seriously.

Harry took a deep breath. "No, I decided to do this. I won't back out now."

"If you're sure." Sirius said with a sigh.

"I am." He gestured at the paper detailing the Azkaban breakout. "I've even hatched a plan to get a hold of the sacrificial component. Nailing two birds with one spell."

Sirius glanced at the page, or rather the photo of a witch emblazoned there. "She won't be caught in the open."

"There's one day where I know exactly where she'll be. After all, Christmas is a time for family."

Sirius' eyes widened "Seriously! That's insane!" he was sufficiently shocked to forget to use the pun on his name.

"I'll manage it." Harry said to end the matter. "I'll call you when it's time. Wait, I need you to acknowledge me as a Black."

Sirius eyed him. "Why would you need that?"

"The Black family is cursed, you know this as well as I. Since my relation to the Blacks is somewhat removed, I may not fall under it. I need you to cement my status so the curse hits me."

"Harry, that curse has ensured no Black has died a peaceful death in centuries."

"Yes. The last Sorcerer's actions cursed all of his descendants, I know. For what I intend though, I need to have that curse affecting me."

Sirius stared at him for several moments, before sighing. "I really hope you know what you're doing. Very well, I hereby acknowledge you as a true Son of the Black."

Harry grunted. He felt the foul taint of the curse settle on him, it felt like a heavy weight landed on his shoulders.

Sirius sighed. "There's no going back now. I hope you're ready."

"I was born ready. On another matter, do you mind if I examine your animagus transformation?"

* * *

"So Harry." Rias said, having come down to visit him during the night, "last time I was here, you implied that even if strong devils appeared you wouldn't be that concerned about it."

"That's right. They wouldn't appear here though. The magic involved is pretty complicated. Several Warlocks lost their lives casting it. I have my doubts whether a God could pierce it."

She shook her head. "I don't think I can let that go. You're magic is impressive, but there is no way you could stand up to devils."

Harry sighed, stopping his fiddling with the bracelet for Cerea. "What do you mean?"

"I'd like to have a match." She declared, "To see if a wizard can do anything against a devil. Of course, my brother is on a completely different level from me."

Harry sighed. Such a pain. Oh well. "Sure. It's troublesome, but my magic has been a little unstable since the ritual, so I'll have the old man play with you for a bit." Ignoring her irritation at his wording, he picked up the bracelet and his knife. He may as well continue with it.

"Oy, Cerea, I'm going out for a bit, you coming?"

"No thank you, Harbinger. I shall stay here. I was just about to go and seek the wisdom of the stars. I appreciate your offer though."

"As you wish." He said, throwing his invisibility cloak over Rias. "Come on then."

They made their way to the headmaster's office, thankfully avoiding any irritations on the way.

After Harry explained Rias' request, Dumbledore stroked his beard. "I see. That is quite a request. Nonetheless, you are in luck, Miss Gremory. I myself have been curious how I would fare against a devil. The opportunity to test myself in such a fashion rarely comes along, you know. In light of your age, you may relax. I shall, as they say, go easy on you."

Rias thrust her chest out proudly. "There is no need. You're not powerful enough to stand a chance against me."

Dumbledore chuckled. "Pride cometh before the fall. Alas, I see you are firm in your belief. I shall let my wand do the talking for me. Harry, if you will grab a hold of Miss Gremory?" He said, placing his hand on Harry's shoulder. When they were all connected, Fawkes flew over, flaming them away.

* * *

"Where are we?" Rias asked in amazement, looking around.

"My dear, this is my own private island. Upon my ascension to the position of Supreme Mugwump, I may have abused my authority slightly and had this island reclaimed from the sea. Of course, I removed all record and memory of the event. There is no point to having a secret island, if one let's others know where it is."

He gestured around grandly. "I use it for anything that I cannot do at Hogwarts. Tanning on the beach, dangerous experiments. Things such as that. Now, it shall serve as our battleground Miss Gremory. I have heard that the newest children of the Gremory inherited the 'Power of Destruction' from the Bael. It would be much too reckless to allow that power to be thrown beneath or around Hogwarts."

"How did you know about that?" she asked, wide eyed.

Dumbledore laughed. "My dear, the fact that we had you forget about us, in no way means we forgot about you. We have been keeping a careful eye on the goings on of the underworld."

Dumbledore brandished his wand. "Now, if you would move to the side Harry, we may begin when you are ready, Miss Gremory."

Harry obliged his request, still fiddling with the bracelet.

"Are you sure you don't want to go first, headmaster?"

"No, I shall let the young make the first strike, so to speak."

"Fine then. Don't say I didn't warn you." She huffed. She held out her hand, a red ball of energy forming in it. It was far from her full power, she didn't really want to obliterate the headmaster, after all.

As the ball raced towards him, Dumbledore sighed, swishing his wand up. That was all. The ball split in two as though it had been sliced through, both halves racing off to either side. "You were holding back. I daresay I am disappointed." He said, shaking his head sadly.

With a bit of anger, she released a much stronger attack. As it neared the old man, he flicked his wand at it, seemingly flicking it aside. "You shall have to do much better than that, I am afraid."

This time, she placed both hands in front of her, charging up a much stronger attack than she normally used. "Yes, that is the sort of attack I expected from a high class devil." Dumbledore grinned.

As the overwhelming blast shot at him, he swished his wand grandly. As the tip came into contact with the attack, it seemed to stick to it, dragging the attack off course. Incredibly fast, he flicked it straight back at Rias. "But still not enough."

Rias stared wide eyed as her attack shot back at her. The whole process since she had fired the spell had been no more than a couple of seconds. Her mind seemed to crash as her attack failed to destroy a simple human. Suddenly she felt something yank at her, dragging her out of the way as the spell hit the floor where she had been standing, an explosion creating a large crater on the floor.

"Wha- How is that possible? My attack should have blown everything away, it erases everything it comes into contact with!" she practically screeched.

Dumbledore laughed, as though he hadn't just crushed her world. "I am reminded of something I once heard Harry say. It was a little bit crass, so allow me to reword it slightly. Ahem, 'My magic makes a nonsense of the regulations'."

Harry sighed. "What he meant to say was, 'Screw the rules, I have magic', he was just being verbose about it."

"But- but it shouldn't be possible!"

Harry sighed again. "Rias, listen carefully. Overcoming Reality with the Power of your Will, _That's _what magic is. If something is 'not possible' it just means no one's tried hard enough."

"I wouldn't be so concerned, Miss Gremory. I dare say I can count the number of people in England who can replicate that feat on my fingers. But nonetheless, every wizard or witch _could_ do it. Secondly, your confidence was not entirely misplaced. I very much suspect that had I decided to place a shield spell or physical defence, your attack would have blown it away without a trace. It was incredibly powerful. As such, I simply had to defend it without using a method that could be blown away in such a fashion. It is not taught on the Hogwarts curriculum, as it is an extremely advanced technique, but I simply redirected your attack. A slight mistake on my timing would have resulted in my death. But I am Albus Dumbledore. I do not make mistakes of that kind. On another note, since Harry had to save you, I am officially declaring myself the winner of our little game. Now, if that is all, would you like to return to Hogwarts?"

* * *

"It's finished, here." Harry said, tossing something to Cerea.

She caught it easily, examining the object in her hand. "What is it?"

"It's a bracelet. If you wear it, it should transform you into a human. Taking it off should revert you to your true form. Maybe you'll get a sense for the feeling, and be able to replicate it using your own power someday. I don't know."

She clipped it around her wrist. "It fits perfectly." She mused.

"Of course. I am a professional. Just don't ask me to make clothes, I'm not very good at that." He said, remembering his attempts to make a ritual robe.

About a second after she finished putting it on, she grimaced, and her body seemed to shift, shrinking until her hind legs merged into her front legs. She then changed a bit more until she appeared as an ordinary human.

"Note, get you some girls clothes." Harry muttered.

"That was a little bit uncomfortable, but this is amazing. You made this in just a couple of days?"

"Like I said, I'm a professional. Anything less would embarrass all those who came before me, leaving me their knowledge."

Cerea gazed at her body, amazed. She took a step forward- and fell flat on her face, making a sound rather akin to 'Oompf'.

Harry scratched at the back of his head. "I guess it doesn't create the instincts to move your new body the way the animagus transformation does. Whoops."

Cerea slowly got to her feet. She pulled it off serenely, acting as though she hadn't just attacked the floor with her face. Harry took hold of her hands, helping her take a few small steps.

"Moving with two legs is strange. I have more respect for you humans now." She said.

"Well, I'd probably have just as much trouble on four legs as you do on two."

"Yes, I think you might. On that note, how about in a few minutes we start your first physical combat training session?" she asked sweetly.

Harry had a feeling she was holding a grudge against him. But, none the less, "Sure. I look forward to learning what you can teach."

* * *

"So Harry," Rias' voice came over to him, "could you do what Dumbledore did in our match?"

Harry put down what he was working on. "Redirecting magic? Yes. He and I have been working on it when we get the chance. I can't pull it off flawlessly every time, but I succeed more often than not. I've not tried since my ascension ritual, so I can't say for sure." Harry paused, debating whether or not to continue.

"If you'd kept your head, you could have worked around that move. He only has one wand, if you fired multiple attacks, he'd have been hard pressed to redirect them all. Of course, he'd simply have pulled out some other tricks. I've never met a Satan, so all I know is they are powerful enough to possibly destroy countries, but I wouldn't bet against the old man, even if someone like that was his opponent. Don't get me wrong, he can't pull out that sort of power. He'd be obliterated with one move. But, that old geezer has a bag of tricks deeper than the sea."

"You sound like you respect him a lot."

Harry nodded. "I do. He's been described as eccentric. That's certainly true. He lets out a lot more of his annoying traits with me, I think, since we're collaborators, comrades, of a sort. A lifetime wouldn't be long enough for him to teach me everything he knows. When he dies, it will be a dark day for the world. Even if most the people in it don't know he exists. As an aspiring Sorcerer, I no doubt have more power than him, though he is much stronger given his overwhelming skill. But, he is no doubt a better man than I. He didn't kill, not even as his friends were spelled down. I can't do that. I'm probably going to end up taking a lot of lives. I'm prepared for that. I just hope that I will finish as someone he can be proud of."

Rias frowned. "I'm pretty sure he is proud of you. But it sounds like you have doubts about that in the future."

He nodded "Yes. What I'm intending to do… I can't fail. I'll succeed, no matter what. That resolve is likely going to be tested. I'll try and remain as I am, but if I must sacrifice parts of myself, I will do so. I'm betting everything on this. Dumbledore's betting on me as well. Daphne and Susan. Since they're backing me up, my failure will impact them, if they get found out. My friends, Ron and Hermione, I'm going to have to distance myself from them soon, so they don't get painted with the same brush. But… they're my friends. Pushing them away is painful."

He felt her embrace him from behind. "Do whatever you need to. The goal is more important than anything else."

He closed his eyes. Yes, that was the sort of creatures devils were. He knew from the intimacy he shared with Rias' soul. If something got in her way, she'd slaughter it without a hint of remorse. The fact that killing, especially a non-devil, might be wrong likely never occurred to her.

"Heh." He grinned sardonically. Seeking comfort from a devil. How pathetic. "Don't worry. I'll do whatever I have to. I never had any intention to shy away from getting my hands dirty. On that note, you busy on Christmas day?"

She blushed slightly. "Are you asking me out? Never mind. I spend Christmas with my family. Sorry."

Damn. He'd prefer to have some back up for that event. Never mind. Sirius would no doubt back him up, but Sirius was at the point where if he could get his voice heard he could still be cleared. Breaking out of Azkaban, an impossible task, was not, after all, a crime. Dumbledore and Sirius should be kept out of it. Likewise, Susan was not gifted in combat, and Daphne hated fighting. He'd have to do it himself if Sona was also busy.

"Don't worry about it. Just an idea I had. It's not important."

* * *

He'd sent Rias back, her fortnight having been up. He'd talked with her a few more times, and she'd gotten along well with Cerea. The centaur was getting use to a human form, he may take her to Hogsmeade when he got a chance. Her physical training was harsh. Had he not enhanced himself, he shuddered to think about how it would have been. Well, he could see the results. He'd summoned Sona again, her frosty attitude and the fact she'd resumed classes without a word meant she clearly hadn't forgiven him for the ritual she'd been a part of. Oh well.

Harry snuck down the corridor. He was waiting outside the potions classroom, waiting for the class to end. It should be any moment now. Then; students began pouring out of the room. He spotted a certain student, ignoring all the others. He grinned. He was going to enjoy this. A discreet charm had him going deeper into the dungeon, his two thugs following him like puppies.

When he was sure no one was going to interfere, he blasted the thugs into the wall. Malfoy spun around, reaching into his bag for his wand. Ropes wrapped themselves around him, stopping him short. Harry removed his cloak. "Hey there Malfoy." He said cheerfully.

"Potter!" he snarled. "When my fa-" Harry silenced him.

"Sorry to interrupt old chap, but I'm on a bit of a schedule. So just do your part quietly." He continued, drawing out a knife. He could use a wand, but for blood, a knife could be important.

Malfoy's eyes widened in fear.

"Oh spare me, you big baby. I'm not going to kill you."

He sliced down one of Malfoy's arms, collecting the blood in a vial. A wound mirroring the one on his own arm. He pushed a small piece of wood, barely bigger than a splinter into the cut.

He waved his wand over it, closing the small scratch. It shouldn't leave a scar because this was not a dangerous ritual, just a minor injury.

"There." Harry said smugly. "That's all I need from you." At the look in Malfoy's eyes he continued "I could tell you what I need it for, but you won't be remembering. The old man said my memory charm and confundus are a bit spotty." He grinned "Just means I need practice. Sorry _mate._"

He levelled his wand at the bound boy. "Obliviate. Confundo" He cast the spells on Crabbe and Goyle as well.

"Right, you three. Go to an unused room somewhere down there, put this on the table, and show each other a good time, aye?" He said, handing over a device similar to the one he'd given Daphne's mother.

As they left, Harry threw his cloak over himself. Taking out a second device, he tapped his wand against it a few times. Sneaking into the great hall, throwing a wave to Dumbledore, he stuck his device to the wall. Tapping it with his wand again, an image, too horrible to be mentioned, was displayed on the wall.

Looking away, feeling a bit ill, Harry considered his actions. He quickly threw a charm at the tables, hopefully stopping anyone under fourth year from seeing the image. Maybe it was a bit cruel, he hesitated a look back at the wall, suppressing the urge to throw up. Bah, it was Malfoy. There was no such thing as too cruel for him. Pocketing the vial of blood, he crept out the great hall.

The blood was the key. Everything else was just a cover up.

* * *

He carefully poured the blood onto a simple wooden amulet he had carved. Wood was a good material for 'absorbing'. With this, gaining entry to that place should be easy. Didn't help with what he had to do there though.

"Don't you think that was a bit harsh?" Came a female voice.

He looked over. Sona was standing there.

"I know it was you. It seemed cruel."

He shrugged. "Malfoy burned up any sympathy and pity I may have felt for him years ago. Anyway, I'd appreciate it if you went back. I had an excellent alibi. Your being here may cast suspicions."

She turned to leave. Before she left the chamber though, "I heard about the match between Rias and Dumbledore. I'd like a similar match."

He nodded "Sure. I'll take you on later, tonight or tomorrow. Oh, one last thing. You busy at Christmas?"

"Yes."

"Heh. I see. Never mind then."

Just as she was leaving, she paused. "Harry, I have a question."

He looked back over at her. "Okay, what is it?"

She turned back, adjusting her glasses. "I get the impression you dislike devils."

He hesitated "I'm not so sure I dislike devils, but rather the contempt in which you hold humans."

Before she could interject he continued "Don't get me wrong, I know you don't attack or take their souls or anything, but you consider them 'beneath your notice'. You wouldn't consider them as friends or potential lovers. True, we are less powerful, and live shorter times, but I won't deny it bothers me."

"While that may be true" she acknowledged "You wizards seem to be the same, looking down not just on those you call 'muggles', but races such as goblins, werewolves. I heard about what happened to the British Giants as well" she countered.

Harry nodded. "Yes, there is some of that, I suppose. I can't deny that many wizards look down on muggles, though there are movements to try and stop that. As for other races?" he sat back. "That's a bit complicated. The giants. Yes, we eradicated them. It was a decision a lot of people were unhappy with. Giants like fighting, their society is built on strength. They hate being cooped up in one place. Naturally this led to them destroying some muggle towns that were close to their 'territory'. With the advancement of technology, this was becoming harder to cover up. We offered to deport them from Britain, to an area where they would have the space they prefer. They declined. We gave them an ultimatum, try and live peacefully or be eradicated. They chose the latter, and we respected their decision. There are still people who argue about the issue. I won't talk about the ethics of it."

"The goblins?" he snorted. "Goblins worship Gods of pain and suffering. If we gave them wand lore, which they so badly want, we would lose our only advantage over them. When they start the next war, and they would, it would become a war of attrition. A war they would win with absurd ease. We want to avoid a war of eradication, it would be harmful for us, although we'd probably win, so we let them be bankers, spreading pain and suffering to all." He joked.

"Werewolves… That's a little complicated. It isn't a disease, it's a _curse_, an incredibly potent one. It wears away at their mind. Every werewolf that lives long enough begins trying to infect others, they may delude themselves with 'forgetfulness' or 'carelessness' but that's because they don't want to accept that the wolf is devouring their minds. Well." He amended. "That's the prevailing theory. They could just have a disposition towards senility."

"However, back to the muggles." He fixed her with a stare. "Tell me, when a human is reincarnated as a devil, do you tell their families? Try and explain the world they've become tangentially a part of?"

Sona didn't answer.

"That's what I thought. They're 'just human'. Their brothers, sons, sisters or daughters have become part of a world much larger than they thought existed, their very nature has changed, and you don't bother to let them know, to be a part of those lives. The lives of reincarnated devils have no place for human relatives. We don't do that. We try and explain the magical world to the relatives of muggle-borns. Let them know what their relatives have become part of. We don't have to, we could take the muggle-born, erase all memory of them having existed. We don't, because where we come from is just as important as where we end up. We even let the governments know about us. How many governments know about you, even as you mess around in their countries?"

Sona said nothing. It was true. Devil society cared very little for humans. Reincarnated devils may continue to live with their families, if it was convenient, but they knew nothing of devils. A devil wouldn't hesitate to use magic to get them to accept whatever strangeness occurred, rather than trying to explain things, even if it greatly affected their lives. To wizards, altering someones mind, even a muggle, was highly illegal, unless done to prevent the discovery of magic.

Harry turned back to his work. "If that's all, you should get back to class."

* * *

It was a couple of days after the previous confrontation. Fawkes flamed the three of them, Sona, Dumbledore and himself to the island. Sona had a quick look around, but she'd likely heard of the island from Rias. She hadn't really talked to Harry since that event.

"I must say I am impressed Harry. I was going to suggest you have a quick match against Miss Sitri. The power of destruction may be a little beyond your skills to handle, but the Sitri specialise in water techniques. It would be a good opponent to test yourself against a devil." Dumbledore told him.

"It was her idea." He replied nodding at Sona.

"Yes, I was curious to see how I fared against an opponent that defeated Rias. I don't mind facing Harry though." Sona said, adjusting her glasses.

Harry shrugged. "My power stabilised somewhat, it's good to flex the muscle, so to speak."

"Very well." Dumbledore began genially, "If you'd take your positions, we may get this duel underway."

As the two of them moved into place, Dumbledore raised his wand, letting out a 'bang' noise "Begin."

Sona reacted instantly, firing a blast of water at high speed. Harry twitched his wand, muttering an incantation. As the blast of water neared him, it suddenly veered away, even though Harry made no move.

"What?" Sona muttered with narrowed eyes.

"I'll explain. Don't get me wrong, I wouldn't normally bother, but this is as much a test for me as for you. If you can't overcome my first move the experience is meaningless for me. It's a simple charm. Modified slightly from the one Hermione used to protect my glasses from the rain in my third year. It redirects water away from me."

She narrowed her eyes again. This time she made a large mass of water appear. It formed into several hawks, which took to the skies, diving at Harry from multiple directions.

Harry rolled his eyes. Twitching his wand a few times, he spread the charm around him. The hawks were all redirected away, time and time again. "That won't work. That kind of water attack won't reach me, no matter what you do with it."

She narrowed her eyes again. "Is that so? Then, try this one." She closed her eyes.

Harry took a step back at the palpable aura of power she was emitting, "Oy, that's no joke." He raced through the spells he knew, finding one that might be useful. Waving his wand in quick, yet precise motions, he muttered the long incantation, causing a shimmering barrier to appear for a moment, before seemingly disappearing.

Sona opened her eyes, unleashing a massive torrent of water. It would batter away at anything it swept up, beating against it, slamming it into the grounds, ripping it apart with the powerful currents. It raced towards Harry, who looked to be sweating slightly at the powerful sight.

* * *

About a minute passed. Sona was hunched over, panting at the effort of maintaining the spell. Eventually she let it fall. She had attacked him from every direction. The grass and flowers nearby had been ripped away. Nearby trees had been levelled. It was a high class attack.

Her eyes widened in shock at the fact that Harry was stood in the same place, atop a small patch of dry grass. "No way!"

He was breathing slightly heavily, clearly it had taken some effort. "I had to pull out a big one to deal with that. It doesn't really have a name, like many of the African techniques. Pretty cool, not sweating the details like that, so let's just call it a flood defence charm, though I cast it on the level of a ward."

"No way" she repeated angrily "You can't have resisted my attack with such a simple spell!"

He quirked an eyebrow "Simple? It normally took two or three shamans several minutes to cast that spell, though admittedly that was centuries ago. Please don't insult my talent."

"Harry, if I may interject?" Dumbledore's voice rang out.

"Hmm?" Harry looked over at him. He was gesturing at his cheek. Frowning, Harry raised a hand to his cheek. It came away with a single drop of water. "Huh. I guess hastily throwing up a spell like that means it wasn't perfect cast."

"That is somewhat disappointing" Dumbledore chided.

"Disappointing!" Sona bit out angrily, "That attack should have destroyed you. A mere human should not have been able to resist it!"

Dumbledore chuckled. "My dear, do not underestimate the power of wizards."

"Sona." Harry said bluntly "Magic is about belief, intent. There's loads more to it, but basically, those two things are incredibly important. In ages past, things like floods, natural disasters, they were considered acts of Gods. The flood defence charm, wind abatement charm, lava freezing charm, they were all created with the intent to stop 'the Gods wrath'. They were believed to be capable of doing so. It would not surprise me if they _became_ capable of stopping a Gods attack. The power of belief is that strong. When you consider that, a mere devils attack got through an admittedly hastily thrown up ward, it is quite impressive."

Seeing she was not convinced, he continued. "If I threw up, say, a 'protego' charm, even a stronger version like 'protego horribilis', you'd have torn through it like paper. Hell, I doubt even an 'Aegis' class defence would stand a chance. The 'difference in power' is that strong. But this charm? It works by informing reality 'water will not pass this point'. It may be more complex than that, but no matter how much _power_ you throw at it, water will not pass that point. My haste probably left a small gap to be exploited, I'll have to work on that. It's the same with fire. No matter how much power you put in the flames, if I cast a flame freeze charm on myself, _I will not burn_. Fiendfyre, well, experts are looking into that it may not be fire at all. Honestly, no one's been able to figure it out.

Some spells are incredibly simple, true. They may not use much power, also true. But magic? A trivial thing like power is simple to overcome." He shook his head "Against most wizards, particularly here, you'd win, probably easily. A flood defence charm isn't taught in Hogwarts, Britain rarely has floods so there's no reason to learn it. Most wizards rarely learn much standard defence, even for use against wizards. We tend to be rather pacifistic. It may be hard for a devil to understand, but there's nothing wrong with that, really. But if our lives depended on it? We'd start teaching this class of spell. You don't remember it, but back when your 'great war' was going on? Wizards were a faction unto themselves. We didn't really get involved, but we didn't hesitate to defend ourselves when you guys came knocking."

He tilted his head. "I've heard that devils have an incredibly low conception rate. There is simple magic, a conception or fertility charm depending on where you read it, several potions, it would be trivial to have devils conceive every time they tried. Something your 'great and powerful' magic can't achieve. The magics we wield are utterly different. I see from your shock that you hadn't considered that. It would change everything in your society. The reincarnated devils would serve no function. Those who wish to pick up the war again might gain a lot of followers. The ICW have contemplated doing so, to stop your evil piece system, but it's the kind of move that can't be taken back."

"Harry." Dumbledore said idly "You're saying too much. That is the kind of information we want to avoid the devils getting before we think all the consequences through."

Harry nodded. "Right, Sona, don't tell anyone about what we discussed, same goes for all you learn about at Hogwarts."

She frowned "Understood."

"Now then" Dumbledore said cheerfully, "shall we get back?"

* * *

He winced as he got to his feet. The nude form of Cerea stood across from him. She wasn't even breaking a sweat.

"You are strong, much stronger than I. No doubt thanks to the blood of both the Re'em and the Dragon within you. But all that strength is meaningless if you cannot learn to properly wield it."

"Yeah, I get that" he bit out "But how can you be so agile? It doesn't make sense!"

She laughed, and he had no recourse but to admit he loved the sound. "I am a centaur, Harbinger. A creature of magic. Do not expect the same rules to apply to us. Now, again. You are good enough with a bow, but your melee skills need a lot of polishing."

He relaxed his body, taking a deep breath, before taking a ready stance. "Alright, let's go."

He'd been fighting Cerea for the past week or so (Not constantly, thank God) and he felt he was getting the hang of it. He still couldn't force her into a sweat though. Well, Centaurs learned this from birth, whereas he'd not bothered with it before.

After his arse landed on the floor for what seemed the hundredth time that day, she called out "Alright. That is enough for today, Harbinger." She stretched out. As usual Harry spent a moment staring before he stopped himself. "Ahh, a good work out makes for a healthy mind. I thank you for working with me. At your current rate of progress, I may deem you 'acceptable' in a week or so."

"My thanks for your praise." He grunted out, falling back.

A hand tapped him on the shoulder, looking up Cerea was holding her hand out to him. "Come, I shall take you to Slytherin's spring."

Grabbing a hold of the offered hand, he was pulled up, swinging around on to her back, leaning forward to rest against her torso.

Given that Slytherin had multiple entrances in girl's bathrooms and showers, it came as no surprise that he had an exquisite bath, or rather a magically created hot spring to entertain them in. Harry was grateful, it was amazing after strenuous physical exercise.

"While I do not mind it" came the voice of the centaur, "I do hope you will show me more of the world soon."

Harry sighed as he leaned back. "There's a Hogsmeade visit coming up, so I can show you the village then. Though I guess that's not what you mean."

"Yes, I wish to see many places, both inside and out of Britain. Though, I have very little knowledge of such things."

"I don't know when I'll get the chance. After I defeat Voldemort, then there are a lot of places all over the world I'll likely have to go. I should probably begin using the map to figure out where those places are. But until the ministry catches on to what I'm doing, I have to avoid moving carelessly. I can apparate internationally, but it will almost certainly be detected. Fawkes could likely take me, but he dislikes being a form of transportation."

"I understand. However, I have become exiled. If I do not see the world as I wish, it will have been a waste. I shall wait for you, my intended. But please, do not take too long."

He sighed. "I'll try. That said, we're friends Cerea, you can call me Harry, you know?"

She laughed again "I could."

"But you won't." he finished.

"That is correct, my intended Harbinger."

* * *

A glowing red circle appeared on the ground in front of him. He made a beckoning motion and Rias appeared. He had sent Sona home that morning, and was summoning rias in her place. He had no classes, and it gave the two time to talk before she came.

"Good morning." Rias said brightly.

"It's evening." He deadpanned. Well, there was a time difference between the countries.

"So, am I off to go to class?"

"No, it's night. Classes start in the morning. But there's something I want to test first."

He led her over to his work table. There was an intricately designed pot on the table. He had charmed it heavily in addition to the properties it had been crafted with.

"What is it?" Rias asked curiously, examining the pot.

"It's a pot." He deadpanned. "It's a little special though."

"Why?"

His lips twitched. "That's a secret. Well, I'll just say I want to avoid fighting devils when possible. Anyways, I need you to destroy it."

"Huh?" she asked, clearly confused.

He nodded. "Your 'power of destruction' is one of the most destructive things I'll likely come across. While a fully mature 'power' is better for testing purposes, I'll have to make do with yours." His lips twitched, robbing the words of hurtful intent.

She huffed nonetheless. "Fine. I'll obliterate it entirely."

She levelled her hand at the pot, charging up her power. Harry trusted she wouldn't accidentally bring the chamber down on them. The crimson power lashed out, striking the pot.

"Huh?!" Rias exclaimed, nonplussed. The Pot was completely unharmed.

"Its special properties should have had no effect on your attack" he mused, "So clearly an 'unbreakable' charm trumps your 'power of destruction'. Good to know. Although," he muttered "Why didn't Voldemort make his horcruxes unbreakable? Maybe since it can't be cast on a person, the presence of a soul stops the spell working? Bah. No matter."

Although a little upset at her attacks failure, she asked "What are its special properties?"

"Like I said, it's a secret. Well, maybe I'll show you someday." It was something he'd designed for use against devils, explaining it to a devil, even one bound to him, wasn't something he was interested in doing. He had only shown her to test out her power of destruction against his unbreakable charm, especially since it may have been interfered with by the other magic on the pot.

The enchantment had worked, in testing against non-devils. He was certain that it would work on devils, having been designed for it, but with the unbreakable charm, he couldn't reverse its effect. Well, without wasting a bunch of time trying to figure it out. He hadn't really bothered to 'wizard-proof' it.

"Well then, that's all I really wanted to test out right now, go on to the dorm." He dismissed her.

She rolled her eyes. "Sure."

* * *

He was waiting outside of a classroom under his cloak. Seeing Susan walk past, he discreetly tagged her with a hex to get her attention. Looking around, she broke away from her friends. Harry followed her.

"Hey Susan." He said.

She smiled "Harry. It's nice to see you."

"You too. Its business I'm afraid. I gave you the details about the curse, do you think you can manage it?"

She hesitated before nodding. "Yes. It should be completely fine. It's a nasty curse, but as a Bones, I'm certain I can defeat it."

He nodded "good, good. That's relieving to hear. Is everything else fine with you?"

"Yeah, it was a little shocking, you know, with what happened, but I don't mind it." Her cheeks turned bright red from blushing "I wouldn't mind trying it again, you know?"

His cheeks turned a little pink. "Er, sure. I'd love to. Just don't tell Daphne."

* * *

He took a deep breath. He'd sent Rias back. The Christmas holidays were starting, and she'd apparently be missed by her family. He hadn't summoned Sona for much the same reason.

He was sat in the chamber of secrets. He'd more or less finished everything he needed to create. There were undoubtedly things he may need in the future, but it wasn't like he could perfectly predict them. He was prepared for a lot of eventualities. That was all he could do. He looked down at roll of parchment. Dobby had helped detailing the layout of Malfoy Manner. He'd added his own notes from things he had created for them in his guise as a black market crafter. For families like the Malfoys, he'd intentionally left 'back doors' into several objects, including the wardstones. If he had a sample of accepted blood (Draco's, added into an amulet) he should be able to just waltz on in past the wards unobstructed.

He had the rooms mapped out, as well as places people were likely to be. It shouldn't be too much trouble to sneak in and grab Bellatrix. He and Dumbledore had concluded that it was likely she had one of Voldemort's horcruxes, safely stashed away in Gringotts, since Voldemort himself distrusted them and had no account (as far as they could tell.) Checking out her vault was the best option they had. For that, he needed her. Once he had her, they'd begin brewing polyjuice. Hopefully the goblins were not able to tell, or would not care since he would have her key.

In addition to that, he could use her in the Black family's curses. Her heritage, as well as her (supposed) closeness to the Dark Lord made her an excellent choice. Putting down a mad dog like her was just a benefit.

As Sirius had said, she would likely stay close to the Dark Lord, out of his reach. He could think of one exception. Almost all magical families would spend the yule holiday, Christmas, together. Sirius, as well as his cousin Andromeda, were outcasts from the Black family, so she'd almost certainly be with her sister, Narcissa Malfoy. The Dark Lord and Harry were similar in many ways, their dislike of Christmas was almost certainly one of them. (It was a time for family. Even if he cared for them, the Weasley's were like rubbing salt in a wound.) He wouldn't offend his followers by stopping them celebrating, and he would certainly avoid spending Christmas with them. The Malfoy's would almost certainly be at Malfoy manor.

There were no guarantees, but he couldn't lose this upcoming opportunity.

He looked over to his Map. He'd have to search out the sites for the things he'd have to gather after he defeated Voldemort. He may not have an opportunity to get back here later. He frowned, feeling something was out of place. He walked over, trying to figure out what it was. One of the pins was dancing around, hidden behind unplottable wards, as it usually was. But the other. His eyes widened. He made the map zoom in, before breaking into a wide grin, snatching up the pin.

"Fawkes!" he yelled, the bird appearing in a flash of flames. "To the old man!"

Another burst of flames, and Harry threw up a shield, a spell blasting into it a foot from his face.

"Harry? You really shouldn't surprise me like that."

"Dumbledore, one of the pins is in the ministry. Either we get a horcrux, or we force Voldemort into the open!"

Dumbledore's eyes were already widening, his hand moving to cast a spell that clad him in his ordinary moon and star adorned robe. "Fawkes, my friend, take us to Arthur Weasley immediately!"

They disappeared in a burst of flames, reappearing in a dingy corridor. Arthur Weasley lay at their feet, bleeding from a snakebite, half covered by an invisibility cloak. Harry ignored him, looking at the pin in his hand, and then looking to see the retreating form of a snake.

"Dumbledore, over there!" He said, beginning to run after it.

"Harry, deal with the snake, I shall treat Arthur."

Harry barely paid attention, chasing the snake. It turned, lunging at him, as he threw himself to the side.

"Sooo, you managed to fiiind mee heeere ssssomehow?" it hissed.

Harry's eyes widened. "Voldemort? Heh, you must have heard of the Weasley clock? It said Mr Weasley was in mortal peril. We jumped over here immediately", he lied, a false memory appearing in his head reflexively.

"Iiii Sseee" it hissed.

"Either way, sorry mate. Just business." He said, casting a severing charm at the snake, removing its head. Black smoke leaked out of it, coalescing into the form of Voldemort's face, even as some seemed to dissipate.

"You'll pay for that, Harry." Voldemort hissed, before vanishing with a puffing sound.

He walked back over to Dumbledore erasing the false memory, then leaving the carcass. Let the ministry figure it out. "Is he…?"

"He shall be fine. We shall take him back to the Burrow, then to St Mungo's. I dare say this was a happy coincidence. Had you not spied the map at that moment, we may have missed a chance, and Arthur would have paid the price. On that note, the snake?"

"Dead." Harry admitted proudly. "Voldemort was possessing it, as well as a Horcrux. Its body is over there. By the way, that means I'm winning."

Dumbledore chuckled "Indeed, my boy. It seems it comes down to the one in the bank. How amusing that we must repeat the impossible feat Voldemort alone has accomplished, breaking into Gringotts. Well, shall we be off? No doubt Molly will like to know we saved her husband."

* * *

While Mrs Weasley was happy that Mr Weasley was safe, it was hard to see under the force of her hug, and subsequent bustling off with him to St Mungos. Well, Harry wished that he could find someone he loved that much, and that he would be able to let himself live with them in such a way. It was almost certainly not in his cards though. He had resigned himself to that.

He had more important things to worry about than playing happy families. He looked back at the fireplace. It was the evening of Christmas day. If he was going to go, now was the time. He looked over at Dumbledore.

"I'm going. I'll be back soon, be ready for me."

Dumbledore nodded, stroking his beard. "Yes, try not to get yourself too injured. While I can retrieve her with ease, we do not have Miss Bones here heal you." He chuckled. "Well, you are Harry Potter, maybe I should retrieve her now anyway."

Harry rolled his eyes. "Thanks for the vote of confidence, Old man."

"I have every confidence in you, Harry."

"…Thanks."

Harry threw the floo powder into the fireplace, "Malfoy Manor," turning the fire a bright green. Checking the amulet around his neck for a final time, he took a deep breath, stepping into the flames-

-and falling flat on his face on the other side. Drawing his wand he threw a stunner at the person he had seen, moments before the floor filled his vision. A thud moments later revealed the person hadn't gotten over their shock at seeing him.

Harry pushed himself to his feet. Another look at the person revealed Crabbe senior. Harry was a little surprised. He'd hoped his little prank on Malfoy would have caused a split between Malfoy senior and his senior book ends. Ah well, he sucked at planning anyway. He quickly levitated the body into a nearby closet.

He checked his face mask was still in place. He had donned a black hooded robe, with a black piece of cloth covering most his face. He didn't intend to leave anyone who would be able to recognise him, but it never hurt to be careful.

He withdrew his cloak from his pocket, throwing it on. He had chosen not to wear it through the floo, for obvious reasons (If he was going to fall, best not to risk tearing the family heirloom), beginning his search of Malfoy manor.

Looking through the first door he came across, he cursed under his breath. It seemed Malfoy was throwing a party. He recognised well over half of them as death eaters. Malfoy, Goyle, Bellatrix, the other two Lestrange, Narcissa, Draco, the book ends junior, the Carrow twins. Several others. The fact that no one cared about the presence of the Azkaban breakouts suggested they were all death eaters, at the very least loyal to the cause. This was way more than he expected.

No doubt they'd soon get anxious about Crabbe's disappearance. They might send people to look for him. He may be able to take down one, maybe two before they figured something was going on. That still left way too many opponents. He closed his eyes. He could wait for Bellatrix to leave. No, that may not happen for some time, time he may not have.

He could go obliviate Crabbe, then send him back to the party. No, he didn't want to stick around here that long. He opened his eyes. He'd attack them head on. Use a strong spell off the bat, hope he got most of them. He nodded. That sounded like a good plan. Now what spell to use. He grinned. _That one_.

He began an intricate set of motions with his wand, muttering under his breath. Dumbledore could cast it with just a flick, but he was no Dumbledore.

As one, all the seated death eaters looked over with wide eyes at the intense surge of magic. Too late, as the spell shot out of his wand. There were several loud reverberating gong sounds, as some death eaters threw up a shield. Moments later, Harry saw that the only death eaters left active, having shot to their feet, were Bellatrix, Lucius, Narcsisa, holding a scared Draco behind her, Greyback, the werewolf, and two others that he didn't recognise.

He took off his cloak, putting it in his pocket, even as he summoned a bunch of chairs to intercept the incoming spells. He didn't want it to get damaged, and he couldn't play a safe game, attacking from the shadows. They could (not easily) revive the ones he'd taken down if left alone.

"Who the hell are you?!" raged a furious Malfoy.

"I have no answers for the likes of you." Harry responded, He flicked his wand at the floor, before flicking it upwards. Water, which he had shot at the floor, surged upwards, where he froze it, creating a wall of ice in time to block a blast of flame.

"Don't use that kind of fire in my house, you fools!" Malfoy practically screeched.

Harry quickly banished the remains of his chair barrier at the death eaters. One was knocked down, while the others managed to deflect the chairs. He fired a stunning spell at the downed opponent, only for a solid looking barrier to jump in the way.

Catching sight of Greyback charging at him with a knife, he conjured several silver stakes, banishing them at him. He dodged a few, but one impaled deep into his leg, a second catching him in the shoulder, in addition to a few scratches, that would put the werewolf out the fight. He turned back to the death eaters, summoning a silver platter to intercept a cruciatus.

"Bellatrix." He snarled. There was a lull in the fighting. Harry moved, circling around them so they wouldn't be able to surround him.

"You sure have guts to attack my home like this. I'd like to see them first hand." Lucius said conversationally. "Though, my wards use a new type of wardstone. I'd like to know how you got through them. Bellatrix, do try to take him alive."

Harry snorted. "Is that all? Those stones have an intrinsic flaw."

Lucius narrowed his eyes. "Oh, do tell. I'll need details to get a refund from that mysterious crafter."

"I'll tell you if you beat me, Lucy-boy!" He said, firing a shimmering silver spell at him. The spell punched straight through the shield Lucius summoned. Had he not moved his head, it would have removed it.

"Tch!" Harry grunted, conjuring several birds which threw themselves in front of spells racing at him.

Harry felt a strange sensation, throwing himself forward a step. A blue barrier sliced through the spot he had been standing.

He glanced around. The barrier encircled him. He couldn't have gone back, too close to the wall, and going to the side would have got him sliced through, given the remains of the table.

Harry glanced towards Malfoy. He was holding his wand in one hand, his cane in the other. He tapped the cane at the ground, a clear ringing noise reverberating. Harry jumped forward, as much as he could inside the barrier, dodging a large spike of earth that would have impaled him through the torso.

"What happened to taking me alive?" Harry muttered.

He glanced over. One of the unknown figures had his wand held between both hands, clearly focusing on maintaining whatever the barrier was. Probably some old family spell passed down through the ages. The others were raising their wands, preparing to cast at him.

He ran his wand against his hand, a small trail of blood dropping to the floor. "Come, Alpha, Omega." He muttered. As the blood hit the floor, it gave off a blast of light.

In front of him were two statues, exquisitely carved, of beautiful women. They had a sword in one hand, and a shield on the other. In the few moments they had been there, they moved, using their shields to block spells aimed at him. The spells ricocheted, slamming into the barrier to no effect.

It was clearly a one way barrier. He flicked his eyes over his enemies. They were in two groups. The barrier caster a few feet behind the other unknown, the rest were off to the other side.

"Alpha, Omega, shield from the larger group." He ordered.

"Understood" they chorused. He shot forward, reaching one hand into his pocket as the other flicked his wand, putting up one of the strongest shields he knew, summoning a floating silver shield.

Magic was a tricky thing. Enhancement was more effective than normal enchanting. For example, a spear, which is made for piercing, makes piercing charms much stronger than if they had been placed, say, on a club.

The shield held, deflecting the spells the attacker was throwing at him. He pulled out his spear, plunging it through the barrier. Even so, the barrier was tough. Only the tip managed to get through it. That was enough. The spear spurted out erumpent fluid, a highly volatile substance, which promptly exploded, flinging the man, or at least his body, away.

Letting go of the spear stuck in the wall, he turned on the man maintaining the barrier. Harry focused his mind. _Hate, more hate than he ever felt before._ His eyes cold, behind the concealing glasses he wore, he spoke. "Avada Kedavra." The green curse shot out, passing through the barrier as though it wasn't there. It struck the man, locking his face in an eternal expression of surprise.

He turned just in time to see his statues fly backwards, their shields cracked. "Master, our shields were unable to deflect the killing curse."

He nodded. "I expected as much. Alright, your part is done." He flicked his wand, causing them to begin to shrink, and shoot over at him. He caught tham, stuffing them into his pocket. He'd see if he could repair, or at least replace their shields later.

He looked over his opponents. Bellatrix, Narcissa, Lucius and Draco. Alright, he could do this. But first, he needed an opening. Focusing on Draco, he clicked his fingers.

Immediately, Draco fell to his knees screaming, clutching at his arm where Harry had taken his blood. Harry jumped at the chance, throwing spells at them. A shield jumped into existence, blocking the spells and Harry felt a sharp pain in his leg. He saw Bellatrix smirking, pointing her wand at him.

He summoned the remains of the table, blocking whatever spell she was going to throw. Looking down he saw a large icicle jammed through his leg. He glanced over at the wall of ice he had thrown up at the start of the fight, the icicle having come from it. That cold bitch! Not even sparing a thought for her nephew screaming. Well, he should have expected it. He tapped his leg with his wand, vanishing the icicle and putting a charm on the leg. That should hold it together until he could get it looked at.

"It's time for you to die, boy." Came the cold voice of Lucius Malfoy, along with a ringing sound. Earthen walls sprang up in a box around him, completely enclosing him. They rapidly began to close on him. He flicked his wand at them, muttering a word. The movement slowed, but by no means stopped. A shame he couldn't make his 'backdoors' too obvious. Well, this was enough.

He pointed his wand up, releasing a ball of light. He looked around. He had a few minutes, he guessed, before he was squashed. He cast a few spells at the walls. Even his stronger spells only cracked them, before they rapidly repaired themselves. He did good work, though that wasn't much consolation in this situation.

He closed his eyes. If normal magic wasn't enough, he'd have to use a greater one. He had to be careful though. If he killed Bellatrix, this would all have been pointless.

He took a deep breath. Great magic was great, at wide scale destruction. Doing this without obliterating the entire mansion would almost be a miracle.

"I call upon the great infernal powers that govern the end of days." He began to chant. When he'd first learnt it, the chant had been easily ten times what he could use it with now. Even so, in an ordinary fight, it was much too long to be able to use, especially given he needed to perform motions while chanting that trying to cast while running made difficult.

"Without care, compassion or empathy, Crimson Truth ends it all. Total Annihilation!"

Crimson energy blasted out around him. He forced it to his will, spiralling around him. Thrusting his hand upwards, the power blasted up.

As the light vanished, he almost fell to his knees. Using power that mimicked a devils was absurdly taxing. They were absurdly powerful. But the results spoke for themselves. The walls that contained him were gone, destroyed without a trace. Like a cone with him at its point, much of the second floor was similarly gone. Rias' 'Power of Destruction' was aptly named. He looked over. Narcissa was fussing over Draco, Bellatrix had a look of shock on her face, and Lucius, Lucius was lying in a pool of blood. He grinned bitterly. He'd designed it that way on purpose. If the cane's power was overcome, it would inflict damage on the user. He'd known he'd have to fight Malfoy, so why not give his tools a fatal flaw.

"Wha- that was great magic" Bellatrix gasped out. "That was pathetic! You didn't even destroy a single house!" She cackled.

"Yes" Harry bit out. "You have no idea how hard it was to use without it killing you. I want you alive, after all."

Before she could respond, he called out to the other person in the room. "Narcissa. If you want your son to stay alive, stun Bellatrix."

"Fool, as though she would do th-" Bellatrix began, before falling to the floor. Narcissa eyed the wand in her hands in surprise.

"Why did I?" she wondered, bewildered.

"Expelliarmus." Harry said, grabbing Narcissa's wand as it flew towards him.

"You! Draco! Save Draco, you promised!" she screamed.

Harry clicked his fingers. Draco regained colour, his breathing becoming easier. In the next moment Harry flicked his wand at the two of them, binding them in ropes.

He forced himself to his feet. Silencing Narcissa and Draco, he apologised. "Sorry, but I'm going frame your sister for this. I'm sure you know what her reputation is."

He ignored the terror in her eyes. Focusing on his occlumency, he erased his ability to feel guilt for what he was about to do, enhancing the cruelty within him.

With cold eyes, he levelled his wand on the helpless woman. "Crucio."

* * *

Harry reappeared in the chamber, Fawkes on his shoulder. He had left Malfoy manor burning to the ground, the dark mark hanging over it. There had been no survivors. The authorities would find a burning house filled with corpses, a message condemning traitors to the dark lord written over them in blood. He had no doubt that had he learnt basic occlumency, what he had done would haunt him. But he felt nothing about it.

"Is it done?" Dumbledore asked, even as Susan rushed forward to tend to his leg.

He reached into a pocket and pulled out a toy sized Bellatrix, tossing it to the old man. "Confirm whether that has a horcrux. Then Sirius and I will use her for the curse."

Dumbledore nodded. "Of course. And the manor?" he asked.

Sensing his true question, Harry answered. "There were no survivors. They should blame Bellatrix there. On that note, Voldemort's forces took a major blow today."

Dumbledore closed his eyes in grief. "How many?"

"I don't know." Harry imagined it must be hard. Each death eater may have been deserving of death. Perhaps not. But Dumbledore must remember all of them as wide eyed eleven year olds, excited to learn magic. Must be hard to hear about them being killed.

"I see." He said with a sad sigh. "I shall go and get some answers from Bellatrix then." With that the old man disappeared in a burst of flames, his bird on his shoulder.

Harry fell back into a chair. "Susan, thanks. I know this isn't how anyone would want to spend Christmas."

She shook her head. "Don't worry about it. Aunt Amelia was called out for some emergency at the ministry."

Harry wondered if that had anything to do with him. It would likely have been too early to be Malfoy Manor. Dumbledore likely made something up to have people on hand.

"Regardless, I'm grateful. It means a lot to me."

She smiled at him. "Of course. I promised to follow you. To hell if need be."

He laughed mirthlessly. "That may not be too wrong." He still was unable to feel 'guilt' over what he'd done, lest it cripple him, but damn. He wished he hadn't had to do that.

* * *

**A.N. So that's it. I decided I wanted to do Malfoy Manor in this chapter, didn't think it would take so long to get there. My enthusiasm may have tapered part way through. The Malfoy Manor fight, there was a lot going on. It was hard for me to wrap my head around. Pretty sure the fight ended badly due to too many participants.**

**Great Magic. A little disappointing, perhaps. Well, he was trying to hold back. He'll use a few others which should be much more impressive. I'll admit to the place I got the idea from; Valkyrie Profile. Cool chant, large magic attack. Old school, so to speak. I didn't like the chant, pretty much original on my part. Any ideas for that, please share. Note, mentioned before, but devils would beat great magic. Faster, stronger and more repeatable.**

**That said, I expect people to be unhappy with the Devil vs Wizard moments. So I'll talk about that a little.**

**First, I feel if it is treated as worthless, then it is pointless. By this I mean, If the wizarding world is looked down on, and Harry will not use wizarding magic in favour of whatever else (chakra, reiatsu, devil magic, Nanoha magic or whatever else (fate/stay being popular)) is in the story, and any HP users are defeated handily, even by grunts, why call it a Harry Potter story at all? It's meaningless. Harry Potter is more than a character's name. If you can't find a way to make the Harry Potter world relevant, why use it at all? **

**In canon, there are no devils. In this world, there are. Thus, it would not be wrong to think that the wizard world would grow differently from canon. Magic may be different. Even in canon, a lot is left unexplored. The villains, for the most part, are not 'specialists' in any field. I wanted to keep it mostly the same though. **

**Dumbledore vs Rias. Okay, that's a stretch. I made that one up. But he's Albus Dumbledore. Total badass wizard. Unless you want to bash him, at which point anyone with a pointy stick can usually take him. Even though I definitely got the impression his power was the real deal. I didn't want him overpowering devils, so he simply redirected their power. Maintaining the idea of finesse over power. Like I said though, against Sirzechs 'multiple balls of power', this method wouldn't really work. Dumbledore would have other tricks though.**

**Harry vs Sona. Again, not a canon spell, but I can see there being anti-flood spells. I had it work for much of the reason already explained in story, as well as what I'll say shortly.**

**Rias vs unbreakable charm. An unbreakable thing is **_**unbreakable**_**. Thus, regardless of power, not broken. Flood wards redirect water away regardless of the strength of the water.**

**Well, I understand many people cannot accept this. So if you can't read the story in light of this, I'm sorry to see you go.**

* * *

**Alright, the rest isn't about my story in particular, but HP stories and crossovers in general. Can be taken as a rant, so I'll apologise in advance.  
**

**I dislike the general wizard world bashing that goes on. Backwards? Architecture and fashion, maybe. But who cares about superficial details? **

**Socially? One thing we see a lot of is 'muggle-borns get shitty jobs, and only if they debase themselves to proper pure-bloods'. Alright, show me one thing from the books where that is? Why would death eaters risk azkaban to establish a world they already pretty much have? **

**Hereditary governing of the pure-blood elite? We see nothing of the sort. In fact, the government system is left irritatingly unmentioned. **

**Racism? Still a problem in the real world, so I've heard, but to put it bluntly, Goblins are not 'short humans' merpeople are not 'fish humans' and centaurs are not 'horse humans'. Likewise, Werewolves and Vampires can be considered mostly human (Damn twilight) but **_**they can easily be considered not**_**. Vampirism and Lycanthropy are **_**powerful dark curses**_** (in this story at least). Expect some effects other than once a month transformations and a taste for blood. The whole 'just a monster once a month' is nice and all (Vampires aside) but is that really so? I personally go with the curse affects their minds, even as a human. Thus Remus forgetting his potion is due to the influence of the curse, trying to spread. **

**Sexism? That seems entirely fanon, and has been discussed around more than enough.**

**Lack of technology? Newsflash, almost any convenient technology we have, magic can also find a way around. The existence of 'wizard wireless' and 'ministry cars' suggest that computers (pretty much a recent muggle thing, chronologically) would get a magical equivalent or version soon enough.**

**Little knowledge of muggles? You're asking them for in depth knowledge about a world many of them likely have little reason to even visit. Also, given that many wizards can push well into the hundreds, muggle culture would have changed over their life. A lot. Arthur Weasley was comically bad, and a supposed expert too. But the muggle studies (apparently) has students discussing use of electricity by muggles.**

**Lack of common sense? Common sense indicates there is no magic. I personally dislike 'magic is an undiscovered science' that goes around. To borrow a concept, put a toffee in an empty mint box, ask a wizard to pull out a sweet, he pulls out a mint because he expected to. How can you apply common sense to something like that? I prefer more 'mysterious' magic to 'scientific' magic. **

**Irresponsibility? Perhaps a little. I think it's better than negima mages (a top offender for pathetic wand wavers). **

**Cultural values? We don't see a lot. Hermione looked down on for 'leading on' Harry and Krum? Well, from what I understand, people would make a big deal of it in the real world. 'Sheeple'? Even in real life, people are easily swayed by the media.**

'**Magical stagnation?' We don't see the development of new magic, why would we, the world is seen through the eyes of a student (not a particularly studious one). Assuming it isn't there, is an Author's choice.**

**Lack of activities at Hogwarts? Harry gets swept into a sports team led by a 'fanatic'. He doesn't really have the time to bother looking for other activities. The fact they're not seen doesn't mean they're not there. You can just make some up if you need them.**

**Wow, that came out like a rant. My point in a nutshell. If you can't make the Harry Potter world interesting within your story, or you just want to sneer and mock it, don't write a Harry Potter story. Just write a story with an OC named Harry. To have 'Harry Potter' is to have the Harry Potter world. Try and make it slot in somehow, or rather, include elements from it beyond 'I came from wizards, they suck, forget about it and never mention it again'. If you can't have them fight toe to toe, then realise that there is more to a world than combat ability. I mentioned this in story, the whole 'can turn the devil's population trouble around with ease' thing. If anyone wants to discuss anything about it like reasonable people, I'm open for messaging.**

**Oh, one last thing. Maybe it's because I'm British, but I really dislike the sub-type 'Oh British wand wavers. They're so bad that even normal wand wavers look down on them.'**


	6. Chapter 6

**A.N. Some people were concerned about Harry's occlumency. Good, it was supposed to be concerning. In canon, it dealt with supressing emotions and feelings etc. Its practitioners (the successful ones) all had severe personality issues. Dumbledore was secretive and whatever else people want to hate him for, Snape was, unarguably, a bastard, Voldemort and Bellatrix, well, they speak for themselves. It's a highly self-destructive skill, which is why you won't see everyone with a pureblood background having a thorough education in it. Basically, it's the sort of thing I picture magi from fate/stay night using as they dissect human experiments for the knowledge they might gain. I wanted to do something aside from the common fan portrayal of 'mind shields, mindscapes with laser canons and killer robots, organising memories, and a useful skill that all children should know'. This is a skill that anyone in their right mind wouldn't want to use if it could be avoided, and certainly isn't commonly taught to children.**

**On that note, as stated, Harry couldn't cast the killing curse against Voldemort without occlumency, because, to quote Itachi, 'his hate isn't strong enough'. To cast that curse with indiscriminately requires a person who can 'really' hate indiscriminately. And I mean 'intense' hate. 'I will hunt down and kill his family and make him watch' hate. Death eaters may be able to use that against Muggles/Mudbloods for whatever racist reasons they have, but against upstanding citizens just doing their jobs (Aurors)? That's why they don't throw it around casually.**

**I've had a question about magicians (DxD style). I'll say this. They may be awesome, may not. I've read only up to volume7, and magicians really appear around 13/14 if memory serves. To me, magicians so far are mooks that Issei (In Volume4) can brush aside with ease. My memories from the anime (Those I have been unable to supress) tell me they showed up in silly hats and fired laser beams from eyes on said hats, that no one paid even the slightest bit of attention to. People can review/message about things they do later, but sorry, I try and avoid using information from second hand sources. In other words, until I read about them myself in the novel (something Issei makes hard for me) they will remain as I currently have them. Not really a spoiler; they are people wizards let gain some knowledge to interact with the factions wizards hide from and contain 'spies' for the wizards. Almost all magicians are unaware of this.**

**I am well aware that writing a story with such incomplete knowledge of one side of it is in bad taste, and could be considered hypocritical given my rant about 'putting down wizards' last chapter, but that's how it is. **

**About Ron and Hermione… I will say I originally disliked Ron, and the plethora of stories about Hermione have soured me on her. That said, they both have their parts to play, and you may be surprised about them. As I said, currently Harry is distancing himself from them to protect them.**

**Hmm, pretty grim scene in this. The curse casting scene. It's probably fine, but I'm warning you it's rather unpleasant, squeamish people may want to skip. It, rather literally, amounts to torture.**

**This chapter was almost twice its current length, but I felt I should shorten it. As a result I get to end the wizarding world stuff on chapter 7, which is kind of fitting. As such chapter 7 is actually done, just needs some possible touching up. Probably put it up about a week after this one.**

* * *

It was New Year's Eve. It had been about a week since Harry had captured Bellatrix, leaving no other survivors in his attack on Malfoy manor. He felt twinges of guilt from the incident. He could erase them completely but that would probably need him to erase his sense of guilt entirely, he wanted to avoid any such drastic changes if at all possible.

He'd taken Cerea out to Diagon alley, and then out to muggle London. She certainly didn't seem impressed. Well, that made sense. Centaurs seemed to be into nature, a place like London must seem 'alien' to one that had never seen such a place before.

As she wandered around, taking in the sights, Harry idly followed after her, mulling over what she had told him the previous night. Apparently the stars were telling her that hardship was fast approaching. It wasn't particularly surprising, but it also wasn't particularly helpful either.

"Harry? Is that you Harry?" a voice called.

Harry momentarily stiffened, before turning to face it. "…Lavender?"

Lavender Brown was stood across from him, wrapped up in a thick coat and scarf.

"Harry, I'm glad I found you, listen, there's something I need to tell you." She paused, panting, clearly having run to get to him. "Listen, I know many people look down on divination, but I had a vision, it's important. The day before classes start again, three auror's and another man in a hooded robe came to arrest you during breakfast. If it's what I think it is, I don't want to get further involved, but I wanted to give you a heads up."

Harry blinked in surprise. He had not been expecting that. It sounded like an Unspeakable was going to come for him. Since it wasn't a team of them, it was likely they didn't know he was chasing sorcery. It sounded like a standard measure for going after unlicensed Warlocks.

He smiled at the girl looking worriedly at him. "Lavender, thanks. It means a lot that you were willing to warn me. It'd be best if you don't talk to me again. I'd hate for you to get in trouble."

"Don't worry about it, what are friends for? Anyway, I've got to get back. I was in the middle of shopping with mum. I'll see you around Harry." She said, as she disappeared into the crowd.

Harry watched her disappear with a frown, even as Cerea walked up to him. "Harbinger, what was that?"

"Huh? Oh, Cerea. It seems the Ministry is going to make a move against me. Sorry to cut this short, I need to start planning for this."

"Worry not. I understand the importance of it. I am happy that I have had this chance. Let us go back to the castle."

Harry nodded, "Right, let's go." He said, grabbing hold of her arm, disappearing with a crack.

* * *

"I must caution against this course of action." Dumbledore advised. Harry had anticipated such a response, Dumbledore tended to prefer less confrontational methods.

"I understand, but I know they're already onto me, I won't get another chance like this." Harry countered. "The fact that they come for me proves I'll be in the great hall."

Dumbledore shook his head "I won't stop you, this is your decision, but I am afraid I do not share your… belief, in divining's of the future."

Harry grinned wryly "Fate and I… we have a strange relationship. You cannot deny this. If Lavender is certain they'll try to apprehend me in the great hall that morning, then I believe I'll be there. This is an opportunity I can't pass up."

Dumbledore leaned back where he was sat at the table, idly unwrapping a sherbet lemon and popping it into his mouth. Harry reached over and grabbed one of the sweets.

They spent a moment sucking on the sweets, contemplating the situation before continuing. "Here." Dumbledore flicked his wand, summoning his pensieve over before placing a silvery memory into the device. "This is all I know of the layout of the department of mysteries. As Chief Warlock and Supreme Mugwump, I had access to much of their information, but even I am not fully aware of the nature of their headquarters. If you must persist with this plan, at least exercise caution."

Harry grinned. "Who do you think I am?"

Dumbledore chuckled "That's what worries me. Oh right. I just remembered." Dumbledore muttered, flicking his wand at a cupboard. A large box floated out of it, landing softly on the table.

"What's this?" Harry asked curiously.

"Since I soon expect events to come to a close, I had been using the opportunity to 'clean out my closet', as it were. These were an experiment I conducted with Garrick, that is, Mister Ollivander, many years ago, into alternate focuses to wands. Rings, bracelets and the like. They… work, but they were unable to match the performance of wands. We made little progress in overcoming their cumbersomeness, so we decided to cease the experiments. Regardless, I pass them to you, hopefully you may find a use for them."

Harry looked at the box with interest. "Huh. Since Ron broke his wand way back when, I had considered alternate focuses, but I never put much thought into it. More important things to consider, I guess, compiled with the little information my family has on the matter. I'll see what I can do with them. Thanks."

Dumbledore chuckled "No need to thank me. I daresay you'll want to curse me the first time you try them out, they were… temperamental. On other news, Miss Lestrange has confirmed that Voldemort passed the Cup of Helga Hufflepuff into her possession, and that she left it in her Gringotts Vault." Reaching into his robes, he pulled out a sheet of parchment. "Here, all the details of the protections in there."

Harry took the parchment "Thanks." Looking down at it, he saw there was a small key wrapped in the parchment.

"I would ask you not inquire as to where she had hidden that key, though. It was rather, unpleasant, to retrieve."

"…Right. Anyway, I'm going to check out those memories in the pensieve now."

Dumbledore just chuckled.

* * *

Harry pressed himself against the wall as a hooded figure rushed around the corner. Really, he had to be grateful to Daphne. The techniques she had taught him were immensely useful, even outside of combat. He was easily able to detect people that were approaching. All living things were connected to the lifestream of the planet, and caused… ripples, was probably the best way to describe it, that she had taught him to detect.

He looked down, seeing, or rather, not seeing his invisibility cloak. To think that his family had been holding on to one of the Deathly Hallows. Whether it was providence or fate, Harry was grateful. No doubt an ordinary invisibility cloak would have been insufficient to get him this far. He idly wondered what Dumbledore had been thinking, passing such an artifact to what he must have thought of as an ordinary child, even if he was the rightful owner.

He had to say, he was rather disappointed with what he'd seen of the vaunted Department of Mysteries so far. Some of what he'd seen had been impressive, but nothing that was beyond the ability of the Potter family to create. Well, he'd probably just barely scratched the surface. He looked down at his watch, (risking detection), seeing he didn't have much more time. He frowned. He'd hoped to either find something worth running off with, or at least some method of sabotaging any efforts they would raise against him. No luck so far though.

Seeing a section of wall across from him open up, a hooded figure walking out, he quickly dashed through before it closed. A secret room had to be interesting.

Seeing the contents of the room, he stared open mouthed for a moment, before breaking out into a wicked grin. Bingo.

Making sure the room was empty, he removed his cloak, swinging a rucksack off his back. Opening the main pouch, he grabbed a handful of simple looking golden chains, packing them in the bag. He proceeded to grab a bunch of books that were sitting on a shelf in the corner of the room. Hopefully the subject matter would be related to the contents of the room. Placing one of the chains around his neck, he put the bag back on, before donning his cloak once more.

Looking around the room, he frowned. His bag should negate most tracking methods, and with Death's cloak on top of that, he doubted they'd be trackable at all. Either way, getting his hands on a time turner, as well as denying them to the department of mysteries, was a major boon. Now to ensure they couldn't make more. He took a simple looking stone out of his pocket, wedging it behind a large hourglass and tapping it with his wand.

He stood up straight. With the acquisition of a time turner, his time issues were solved. Now, to see what else he could find. He turned and left the room.

* * *

He was currently in the great hall attending breakfast, a lavish 'welcome back' feast. As usual, Umbridge was glaring at him, though there seemed to be something different about it today.

It was at that point that the main doors were thrown open. Turning to look, he narrowed his eyes as an unspeakable flanked by three Aurors were marching up the hall. His suspicions were vindicated when they stopped behind him.

"Harry Potter, you stand accused of illegal progression to the rank of warlock. You will come with us." The lead Auror stated loudly.

Harry caught Dumbledore's eyes. A slight nod meant the old man would leave this in his hands.

"I have no idea what you're talking about." Harry said in a bored voice.

"He's lying. You cannot deceive me, boy." The unspeakable said. Due to the charms obscuring both the face and voice, it was impossible to even determining the gender of the speaker.

Harry's eyebrow twitched. He recalled the unspeakables had many unknown magics only they were privy too, apparently a method of detecting lies was among them. How annoying.

Ron, bless him, immediately got to his feet "Hey, do you have any proof?"

"We have no need to share our proof with you." The unspeakable informed him.

"I won't just let you take him, I believe in him!" Ron shouted.

Harry was grateful for his words. He didn't deserve them though. His wand twitched out, sending Ron flying at the wall, crumpling to the ground. Hermione ran over to him, calling his name.

"Let me guess. That thing with Malfoy gave me away." He mused. There was a collective gasp. That affair had been… brutal. People were going white faced, some trembling in anger.

"…Correct. We were able to trace that back to you."

Harry had no idea how they had managed that. He had used his great magic, true, but it had looked like the ministry had bought the 'it was Bellatrix' charade. Oh well.

"Harry… why…?" Ron gasped out. Harry looked over at him, still keeping some attention on the threats before him.

"What they said is true, Ron. I did become a Warlock. Have been for some time. I'm honestly surprised it took these idiots so long."

"No, why… did you attack me?"

Harry thought how to answer. The truth, that he was protecting him, would likely hurt his pride and paint him as a 'target', someone he was close too. At the same time, he couldn't lie in front of the unspeakable. Therefore, "It's payback" he said "A while back, you put a curse on me."

Ron frowned "I've never cursed you…"

"No? Maybe you don't remember. It was a horrific curse, one I feel the effects of to this day. This is paying you back for it." Technically, if you twisted the meaning of words, every word he spoke was true. Depending on whether the unspeakable's truth spell only detected lies told 'to him' or any lie in range, that should cover it.

He turned back to the unspeakable. He (or she) and the Aurors were stood watching him. They likely wanted to avoid a fight inside the great hall, with the students around. Harry did too.

"That said, I have no intention of going with you." Harry told them.

"Do you think you can get away?" the unspeakable asked, curious.

"Do you think you can stop me?" Harry countered.

After a few seconds passed, Umbridge stuck her nose into affairs. "Hurry up and take care of that worthless brat!" she shouted, flinging a blasting curse at Harry's back.

Harry span, jumping up onto the table and flicking the spell at the wall. A second wave of his wand, no incantation spoken, sent a spear of ice flying straight at Umbridge. His foot coming into contact with the table, his wand pointed at it, he continued his spin, returning to face the group trying to arrest him.

Professor Umbridge stumbled back, clutching at the spear of ice that had been impaled through her throat. Even had a healer been right next to her, she probably would not have survived. The unspeakable had levelled his wand on Harry, the Aurors moments after him. Harry had already finished his spin, levelling his wand at the group.

A second passed before the children began screaming in shock at the brutal action. Harry's words silenced them with the power he put into them.

"Listen to me well." The unspeakable didn't try and stop him, but did tense slightly. "My name is Harry Potter, descendant of the Houses of Black and Potter. I intend to walk the path of Sorcery… to its final conclusion. I fully understand the implications of my declaration. Should I fail, death would be a kindness. So hear this and relay it to all who care to know! My life is my wager on this 'game'! To all those who wish to stop me, you had best be willing to match my bet! I won't hear words of regret and accusations from those you leave behind!"

"Harry are you insane!" Hermione yelled from her position kneeling over Ron's body. "You promised you wouldn't do anything rash!"

"The ministry forced my hand with their denial." Harry told her. The best Lies were true.

"Are you serious?! What you're doing now could plunge the entire _world_ into chaos! The last sorcerer-"

"Do you want to know what the last sorcerer did Hermione?" Harry's voice cut through air like a knife.

Her eyes widened "Wha-"

"Potter." Came the voice of the unspeakable "There will be an inquest as to how you know what you do. Do **not** make me silence every other person in this room."

Harry focused on the darkness covered face of the unspeakable. The stare (one sided) held for several seconds.

"Sorry Hermione, I guess you'll have to stew in ignorance a while longer."

After a moment of silence, he continued "As I said before, I have no intention of coming along quietly."

"Do you really think you can leave? Even if Dumbledore would not raise his wand against a student, you just murdered a teacher"

"Who just tried to murder me," He interjected. "A clear cut case of self-defence. I have no intention of harming anyone who does not get in my way. The ministry took away his responsibilities as Chief Warlock and Supreme Mugwump. His only responsibility is now protecting the students. That means he will stop any of them that try and interfere with me, and should we fight here, he'll only act against whichever of us harms them."

Harry meant that. He couldn't afford fighting here. If one of his spells caused serious harm to a student, Dumbledore would have no recourse but to stop him. He had to avoid that.

"I have no intention of fighting here" Harry repeated clearly.

"You think we'll just let you go because of that?"

Harry's lips twitched into a self-assured smile. "Of course you won't. It doesn't change the fact that I'll be walking out the front door."

He'd already set it up, a small freezing charm at the table where he stood. He tapped his wand against his pocket as the unspeakable was giving the order to attack. There was no response, but the unspeakable stiffened as they turned sharply around, looking towards where Harry knew the department of mysteries lay as the devices he'd left behind exploded. Harry took the opportunity to focus on his wand. "Magnus Glaciem Figura" He whispered, a Potter original. Less specific than many spells, but he could cover that with his 'will'. Starting with the small amount of ice on the table, concealed from the unspeakable by the breakfast dishes, a massive pillar of ice shot up from the table. Shaping itself into the form of a gaping dragon's maw it lunged at the unspeakable.

The unspeakable, spinning back to Harry, casually flicked his wand, sending the ice dragon shooting upwards. Had he had more warning, he might have been able to destroy it outright. The dragon continued onwards, arcing down and slamming through the open door, throwing up shards of ice, which froze in place, expanding to create a wall. Seeing it was still attached to the table, the unspeakable's eyes widened (unseen, of course). Shooting a spell at the arching pillar of ice, the entire thing shattered. The figure of Harry Potter could not be seen on the table. Spinning around he threw a spell towards the doorway.

Harry Potter could be seen through the gap in the wall of ice where the pillar had been attached. One of his arms was encased in ice, and he was rolling the shoulder. The ice rapidly grew, covering the hole in time to block the spell. The Aurors also threw a multitude of curses at the wall, but any damage they caused was rapidly regenerated.

"As I said" came the smug voice of Potter "I'll be leaving through the front door."

* * *

Harry grimaced as he walked out of the front doors of Hogwarts. He should probably get moving. That ice probably wouldn't hold them long. It was a shame that he had to agree with Dumbledore on the importance of theatrics. If he'd snuck away or openly fled, the number of people who would come after him for whatever reason would probably be higher.

He rolled the shoulder still encased in ice, grimacing at the pain. Yeah, that may not have been the best of ideas. He'd have to tweak the magic in his clothes if he wanted to do that again.

He threw on his cloak, making his way towards the forest. There should be an entrance to the chamber, right around… there. He placed his hand on a rock, hissing out a command. The large rock seemed to shimmer, turning into a liquid substance, flowing out, revealing a large opening to a tunnel. He made his way down, mage torches springing to life as the opening closed behind him.

Reaching the chamber, he looked around. As expected, the chamber had no visitors waiting for him. No doubt Dumbledore would be busy for quite a while with the fallout from the event upstairs, but he assumed Daphne and Susan would be visiting soon. Cerea was out in the forest on an errand for him, the next step for taking down Voldemort would have to wait for her to return.

He turned to look at the sound of the large doors opening. As if on cue Susan rushed in, Daphne following at a more sedate pace.

"Harry, are you alright?" Susan panted out, taking her wand and tapping the frozen appendage that was his arm.

"Yeah, just a flesh wound," He dismissed, "But if you wouldn't mind looking at it, I'd be grateful."

"Right." She nodded, closing her eyes in concentration.

Harry sighed as the soothing energies flowed through him. Another side effect of Daphne's training, as well as his transition into a sorcerer, was a greater sensitivity to such things.

"So, _Master_, what's next?" came the sultry tone of Daphne.

Harry closed his eyes in thought. Having Sirius lay the curse on him was important, but the effect on Bellatrix could prove fatal. Before _that_ resource was squandered, there was one other thing he needed her for.

He opened his eyes. "Hopefully the headmaster is done with the polyjuice. I need to steal something from Gringotts. You two should keep your noses clean."

"But!" Susan started, only to be interrupted.

"You don't need to tell me that." Daphne laughed. "I have no intention of letting myself be dragged into this until I have no choice."

Harry nodded. "Right, for now, just carry on. I should be able to deal with Voldemort, but then, I'll probably need you to come with me around the world."

Susan sighed. "Fine. Just don't do anything too reckless."

Harry frowned. "Why do people keep telling me that?" He wondered.

* * *

Daphne and Susan had returned to their classes, and Harry had turned his attention to what appeared to be a modified snitch. It wasn't strictly necessary, but he couldn't resist making a parting shot against the ministry when he was done with Britain.

"Harry, my boy, there you are."

Harry stiffened, before turning to stare at the old man. "Dumbledore, how did you get past my alarm charms?"

He chuckled "Oh, it was simplicity itself Harry."

"In other words, you're a cagy bastard and you're not going to tell me."

"Quite. In other news, there is some fallout from the day's events that you should be made aware of."

Harry leaned back into his chair. "Okay then, what happened."

Dumbledore stroked his beard. "First off, the Department of Mysteries… has vanished."

"…What?"

Dumbledore's eyes twinkled. "Indeed, it has just disappeared. I was able to give it a quick once over, there seems to be some kind of temporal field displacing it from our level of reality."

Harry's eyes widened in shock. It seems planting explosives next to unknown time magic devices was a bad idea. "…I, er, whoops?"

Dumbledore sighed. "It is no doubt a sad event, but a fascinating one, and no doubt beneficial to you. The second event worth mentioning is Voldemorts response."

"Oh?"

The old man nodded. "Indeed. It seems that Voldemort has no use for a spy who, and I quote, 'is so useless he can't even figure out a student became a Sorcerer under his overly long nose'. As such, I must unfortunately report that Severus has embarked upon his next great adventure. Alas, 'tis truly a shame."

Harry frowned, "How did you know what he said?"

Dumbledore chuckled again. "A fascinating little spell I developed. It allows me to experience things through the senses of the person it is cast on."

"That's… mildly disturbing."

"I don't really care to hear that from you, but at the time I figured it was necessary to ensure Severus didn't betray me. I trusted the man, do not mistake me, but Voldemort is capable of a great many things. I did not wish for him to have the opportunity to use Severus' past mistakes against him."

"I see. On the matter of Voldemort, do you have the polyjuice ready old man?"

Dumbledore paused briefly, "Yes, but you should know as well as I that that alone won't deceive the goblins."

Harry chuckled mirthlessly "I don't need to deceive them. They'll take any excuse to get me into the bowels of their lair."

Dumbledore's eyes narrowed. "Yes. I can see why they would do that. This is a massive risk Harry. I need not tell you just what is at stake here?"

"I won't fail."

He sighed. "It isn't your failing that concerns me, but rather the potential costs of your success. There are a dozen possible outcomes that may happen as a result of your success, but are things I would avoid, were it possible. And that is just off the top of my head."

"You worry too much old man. It'll be like taking candy from a baby. A stupid, ugly, baby."

"But an incredibly vicious and cunning one." Dumbledore countered.

* * *

"Uggh." Harry grunted as he adjusted his robes for what seems like the hundredth time. Being a women felt weird, to say the least. It wasn't helped by the deep ache's left by the woman's extended stay in Azkaban. The bitch was also horrifying to look at. He'd nearly thrown up when he'd had to dress _herself_.

He pulled the hooded robe closer as he made his way down Diagon alley. He caught sight of a newspaper blowing past. It still had Bellatrix's face emblazoned next to the ruins of Malfoy manor. In spite of him practically confessing to the felony, the newspapers were still running with the story that she had committed the crime. It no doubt had an impact on his public image that he was still merely 'rumoured' to be involved rather than stated, but he was undecided on whether that was a blessing or curse.

The armed flunkies standing outside the bank glared at him as he passed through the gleaming white doors. He wondered if they could tell something was off. Either way, they made no move to stop him. He rapidly approached a teller, pulling out the woman's key.

"I need to make a withdrawal." He rasped, shoving the key at the goblin.

The goblin sneered as he examined the key. "Very well. You!" he snapped at a nearby Goblin, "Escort this woman down to Vault Seven Twenty!"

The goblin gave a wicked sneer, before gesturing Harry to follow him out of the room. A glance back showed the teller he had been talking to conferring with an armoured goblin. Harry sighed softly. This was probably going to end in trouble.

After a lengthy cart ride into the bowels of the earth, Harry jumped out onto the platform. The only strange occurrence was a waterfall that seemed to cut off before the cart neared it, springing forth again once they had passed.

"Wait, human." The goblin sneered, producing an odd looking device. Following the goblin, he was surprised as the goblin shook the device, an annoying clanking sound resulting. Harry saw a dragon lurching away from an ornate door. Placing the object down, the goblin placed its palm on the door, causing it to swing open.

"Vault Seven hundred and twenty." The goblin announced. Throwing a nod at the goblin, Harry brushed past him. A quick glance told him that everything in the vault was cursed. Touching anything would be a bad idea. He reached into his robe, pulling out a small pin, letting it lead him towards the Horcrux. Tossing out a small rag, he charmed it around the cup, levitating it over to him. Opening his bag for it to fall into, he released the charm, closing the bag and giving a quick glance around the room, in case there was anything worth grabbing. Seeing nothing special, he turned to leave the vault.

As he passed the threshold of the vault, water cascaded down, drenching him. He instantly leapt to the side, a clanging noise as a dagger impacted the tunnel wall where his head had been. A quick glance revealed that his hand was his own, the polyjuice having been negated.

"An interesting trick." He snarled at the goblin.

It smirked wickedly. "It was a mistake to come here, sorcerer. You're all alone against the full might of the Goblin Nation. And considering you just stole from a vault, your ministry can't complain with anything we do to you."

"Congratulations" Harry snarked, "You get to die first." He fired a violet beam at the goblin, blasting a small hole into the wall behind it when it dodged. Seeing a knife coming at his head, he made a swatting motion with his wand, sending the knife into the wall.

"Just give up! Your blood will unshackle our Gods, and your flesh will strengthen the Goblin race! Or don't, your suffering and struggles will be exquisite. Either way, your coming here spells the end for the age of wizards."

"Yeah, I'm not going to let that happen, you scum sucking gutter rat."

"I'm gonna enjoy this." The goblin sneered, lunging at him. Or it would have, had it not tripped, landing face first on the floor, a quick severing curse making a corpse of him.

"Never underestimate the basics." Harry sneered back.

A loud roar made Harry turn around, coming face to face with a dragon, excited by the smell of blood. "Yeah, that's not good." Harry muttered.

"Glaciem Murum." He snapped, brandishing his wand. A wall of ice blocked off the tunnel, as a blast of Dragonfire came at him.

"Crap." He muttered, seeing the ice already nearly melted through. His wand seemed to dance, as Harry muttered under his breath, turning the wall into marble. A quick repeat of the spells thickened the wall.

"Now, to make my dashing escape." He muttered, turning back the way he came. He could make out the sound of footsteps after the sounds of the dragon had been muffled. "Of course." He sighed.

Dozens of goblins rushed around the corner. "You morons never learn." A hail of bolts were the response. His wand twitched, the arrows stopping in mid-air, before rotating and being sent back, taking down several goblins.

A quick repeat of his ice spell put up a thin wall of ice. He knelt down, placing his wand to one side, before sliding in a horizontal line in front of him.

"separabunt crura" The path his wand had followed lit up a blazing orange, before being shot forward. A mental twitch brought down the wall of ice in front of him before the spell hit it. Moments later the spell passed through the amassed goblins, severing straight through their legs, landing them on the floor. The exception being a particularly large goblin dressed in what seemed to be armour made of goblin silver.

"Your pathetic magics won't work on me, sorcerer!" it yelled.

"Challenge accepted." Harry's wand started swishing as the goblin charged him.

"Concidat Foramen" he finished. Within a few steps of him, the goblin seemed to fall. After looking down, horror filled eyes looked back up at him. The goblins lower body seemed to have been swallowed by the ground. Another flick of his wand and the ground became solid. Another flick sent the goblins sword sliding away from it.

"Unfortunately for you," Harry said, drawing the goblins attention, "I want your armour."

Reaching into his bag, he pulled out a face mask and a sealed tin. Placing the mask on his face, he tossed the tin at the goblin, before shooting it with a piercing curse. There was a hissing sound as gas burst out of the tin. Harry looked away as the goblin seemed to die in a very painful manner. Conjuring a small rock, Harry banished it at the goblin, confirming it was dead. Satisfied, he cast a spell that brought all the gas together, before vanishing it, as well as the tin that started the mess. Taking off his mask, Harry proceeded to pull the armour off the goblin. It definitely wouldn't fit him, but it was definitely worth studying.

Done with that, Harry took a moment to consider his options. Apparition wouldn't work, and a quick check confirmed his portkey wouldn't activate. Well, it had been a longshot anyway.

Summoning over one of the severed goblin legs, Harry transfigured it into a small bird. Casting Dumbledore's sense sharing spell, he banished the bird towards the end of the tunnel. Closing his eyes and focusing, he groaned as he saw how many goblins had been amassed against him. There were literally hundreds of goblins gathered in the small cavern. He'd be hard pressed to deal with all of them. At least, on his own. And that was just a small cavern, he'd have to break into the main cavern under Gringotts if he wanted to get out through the bank, and there were probably way more goblins waiting there. He needed some way to take them all out at once. His eyes narrowed. He had an idea, but he'd need to be pretty close to that main chamber. He needed some back up here.

He summoned over a few more corpses, before making a quick magical circle out of their blood. Leaning down, he pressed his hand against the floor within the circle. The entire circle began glowing red.

"Come." He spoke softly, "I need you, Rias Gremory."

There was a bright flash, as the form of Rias Gremory materialised next to him.

She knelt, "upon your summoning, I have come forth. I ask of you, are you my Master?"

Harry frowned. "Sorry, what?"

She sighed. "Never mind. So, where is this? It doesn't look like Hogwarts."

"We're under London. The goblins want to keep me here, to sacrifice me to their Gods. I want to get out. We're smashing through what is pretty much an army."

"Ugh, just great. Well, it's good practice, I suppose."

"That's the spirit." Harry deadpanned. "Hopefully they don't have a Balrog." He joked.

Rias tilted her head, "Sorry, what?"

This time Harry sighed. "Never mind."

He threw off the robe he had been wearing as Bellatrix, reaching into his bag, he pulled out his own, slinging it on. He smiled in satisfaction at the comfortable feeling.

"Right. Let's go." He said, walking forward.

Rias frowned at the robe he was wearing. It was a black robe, except for thin purple lines flowing down the arms, ending in three eyes on each arm, and connecting a strange symbol that had what looked like six eyes on the back. She shook her head, it wasn't important.

"Can't I just use a magic circle to get us out?" Rias asked.

Harry paused, before shaking his head. "Your circles were created for devils, I'd rather not test the effect on a human without an in depth study, one I haven't the time for. Second, breaking into Gringotts is actually pretty easy, staying undetected and getting out is the hard part."

"I see. Well, any plan then?" Rias asked.

Harry laughed. "Yeah, kill anything that isn't either me or you, and try not to bring the entire place down on our heads."

Rias snorted. "Great plan."

Harry rolled his eyes. "I need to get to the main chamber. I think it's a couple of tunnels over. Once I get there, I'll need you to cover me while I put an end to this."

"Oh?" she asked, curious, "Is this your sorcery?"

"No. I don't have that yet. Though I have some leads on obtaining one. A great magic should be more than enough for this."

"I'm looking forward to it."

Harry held out a hand to stop her. "Hold on." He muttered quietly. Ignoring her protest at where he'd apparently grabbed, he closed his eyes, focusing on his small transfigured bird.

Opening his eyes, he took a deep breath. Holding his wand in front of him, he slowly turned around, twirling his wand in a full intricate circle. After completing it, he rapidly span the other direction, viciously swiping his wand.

"Wha!" Rias exclaimed, as a sharp wind picked up around him.

"Stay close!" he yelled, bursting into the tunnel, "Glaciem Matara!" he snapped, conjuring several spears of ice, a swish sending them at the nearest goblins. He was left kind of disappointed though, when a single blast of crimson energy from behind him seemed to wipe out a whole bunch, but he swiftly dismissed the idea, he was busy starting his next spell, keeping an eye out for any bolts that weren't redirected enough by the rough winds he'd summoned around himself.

"Columna Ignis." Moments later, a large pillar of bluish white burning flames erupted from the ground. Even at the large distance, Harry could feel the heat of it. Swiping his wand left, the pillar of flames swept across the ledge, incinerating more goblins.

A shiver went down his spine, a signal he recognised. He span around, grabbing Rias as he dove back into the tunnel he'd come from. Moments later, the ground seemed to shake with a mighty crack. Turning to glance over where he'd been stood, two massive trolls wearing wicked looking black armour covered in spikes were crouched, massive weapons slammed into the ground.

Harry grinned, helping Rias to her feet. "It seems they have a cave troll. Or two."

Rais gasped behind him. Glancing over, she was staring at her clothes, which had been ripped slightly. "You bastards," she muttered, trembling in anger, "Disappear!"

She thrust an arm out. Glowing red magical circles appeared in front of her, before two swirling orbs of red and black coalesced within them. Harry felt a shiver go down his back, they were powerful.

"Die!" She snapped, the orbs racing towards them. There was a noise akin to an explosion as the orbs impacted the trolls, and they were knocked back.

"W,What?!" Rias gasped. Her surprise was understandable. Rather than be destroyed, the trolls were getting back to their feet. Their armour, originally a blackish grey, had ominous looking cracks of red energy spreading over them. Even as they watched, the cracks were fading.

Harry narrowed his eyes. It wasn't Goblin silver, but he hadn't heard of any material that would act like this. If it was capable of absorbing Rias's attacks, he didn't fancy his chances of getting through it. Different plan then. He was thankful for Cerea and Daphne's training, otherwise this would probably be a bad idea.

Seeing more goblins turning into the tunnel, he swept his wand across, conjuring a wall of flames similar to the one he'd used earlier. He couldn't afford distractions against something like these trolls.

"I'll take the one on the right." Harry said, reaching into a pocket and pulling out a spear. "You take the one on the left. I'm reasonably sure you can overcome that armour if you just keep pounding it."

Rias nodded. "Right, what about you?"

"Ha." Harry barked a laugh, "It shouldn't be too hard to kill. I 'am' a superhuman you know?"

She looked quizzically at him, but he ignored her. He took a deep breath, centring himself, letting the energies of the earth flow through him with each breath.

The trolls had picked up their large weapons, the one closest to him seemed to be holding a large hammer, and were charging towards them.

"Go!" he told Rias, as he dashed forward. Within a moment, a large blast of dark crimson energy raced past him, slamming into the other troll, blasting it back a few steps.

In response to his charge, the troll lifted the hammer, bringing it down to smash him. Harry dodged to one side, leaping back at the hammer as it impacted the floor. From the hammer, he jumped up to the trolls head, slamming his foot into the side of its head, narrowly missing a jutting spike. The troll was knocked into the side of the tunnel. Reversing his grip on the spear, he slammed it through the joint at the trolls elbow.

Moments later there was a mighty crack as the limb was torn off by the resulting explosion. The troll screamed in pain staggering back a step.

Harry focused on the energy of the earth flowing through him, and _moved._ The world seemed to race by as he sped past the troll, turning as he landed, skidding about a foot further. He immediately lunged back at the troll, the spear penetrating through the back of the troll's knee.

As the troll fell forward, missing a leg, Harry quickly moved again, seeming to blur as he rushed around the troll. The spear lancing forward to pierce through the troll's eye. He immediately jumped back to avoid the resulting burst of gore.

Glancing over at where Rias was still fighting, he stared, transfixed. Rias was panting, sweating with effort, as she blasted another shot into the trolls back. She had her wings out, and was darting about, avoiding its strikes. Likewise, it had become accustomed to her attacks, and was barely being staggered by each hit. The glowing red cracks were much thicker than before, and were giving him a bad feeling. Finally, Rias released a blast of power that seemed to lance through the troll, impacting the ground in front of it. As the troll fell, Rias released a sigh.

Still having the ominous feeling, Harry's eyes widened. His hand shot into his pocket, grabbing his wand, immediately swinging it towards Rias. A beam of orange energy lashed out, grabbing hold of Rias by the ankle, and Harry yanked the wand back, pulling Rias towards him.

Rias made a "Whaa!" sound, even as Harry caught her in his arms, immediately releasing the orange spell and casting the next.

"Aegis!" He practically screamed, a large silver shimmering shield appearing between him and the fallen troll. Within moments, crimson energy flared in a massive explosion. Harry pulled Rias tighter against him, even as he felt some force sliding him back, despite being through his shield.

Seconds passed, and Harry released the shield. The tunnel was now more of a room, any area not covered by the shield being erased. Harry whistled. "That could have hurt."

Rias was panting. "You okay?" he asked.

She nodded, leaning into him. "Yeah, just not used to using so much power in a short space of time. Most enemies go down with one or two hits. I guess I'll need to work on that."

Harry chuckled. "Don't worry, if this" he gestured around the new room "is any indication, it's a fair assumption."

He proceeded to stuff the severed troll limbs into his bag, after a quick cleaning charm, followed by a cauterisation curse. He'd have taken more, but it looked like the armour was fused to the troll. Thankfully the burst of destruction energy had not destroyed the other suit of armour.

Now that he looked, the wall of flames had been blown away. He guessed they were pretty lucky that the tunnel hadn't collapsed on them. "Come on, better get moving."

"Right. Let's go." She agreed.

He winced as he pulled into the small cavern. The fight had been near the edge of the tunnel, and the cavern had taken a major hit. Good news, he couldn't see any goblins, bad news, she'd ended up destroying the tracks. He surveyed the cavern. It was a shame he hadn't thought to bring his broom. He pointed to the highest visible level, "we need to get up there. Can you fly it?"

Rias nodded. "Yeah, I should be able to carry you up, no problem."

Harry snorted "Bollocks to that. I've got a more fun way to get myself up there."

Rias quirked an eyebrow "Oh?"

Harry grinned, "Yeah, watch this."

Harry pointed his wand at the floor, a muttered incantation creating a small patch of ice. Stepping into it, he flicked his wand towards the destination. "Magnus Glaciem Figura!" He proclaimed proudly. Instantly, a dragon's maw, made of ice, erupted from the small patch of ice beneath him. Focusing on maintaining his balance, he leapt off as the head slammed into the side of the ledge, landing nicely at the mouth of a tunnel. Moments later, Rias landed next to him.

"You're right, that did look like fun." She agreed.

Reaching into a pocket, he pulled out a flask, pouring tea into the lid.

"Seriously!" Rias exclaimed.

He shrugged. "Tea stimulates the body into replenishing magical power. This is a good opportunity. Great magic is taxing, and some of my earlier spells were no cantrips."

Rias stared hard at him for a moment. "You just like tea."

"Guilty as charged." He chuckled, "but that makes my previous statement no less true. This bottomless flask can produce endless amounts of an incredible variety of tea. I consider it among my greatest creations."

"Seriously? Actually, never mind. I'm surprised though. I thought the goblins would try and stop us landing here."

Harry shook his head. "Goblins prefer fighting in tunnels and cramped places. Especially if they can use their superior vision to that of the average wizard. Though I daresay ours is superior to theirs in this case." He glanced down the tunnel. "There are several goblins down that tunnel. They're using a different tactic to the swarming methods they've used thus far." He grimaced. "I would surmise these are elites, they'll likely use Goblin Blood Alchemy."

Rias tilted her head. "What's that?"

Harry looked over directly at her, and she was stricken by how dragon like his eyes were. "Goblins believe that consuming fallen enemies increases their strength. Blood Alchemy is a crude method based on that. They specially treat blood taken from various creatures, trolls, vampires, werewolves, you name it, and when they drink it, it causes rapid changes to their physiology. Speed, strength, regeneration, resistance to magic, they can obtain a wide variety of benefits. The cost is dramatically reducing their lifespan though."

"That sounds a bit like the ritual Sona told me of."

Harry grimaced again. "It's galling to admit, but there are similarities. Well, either way, be on your guard. Oh wait, where are my manners, would you like some?" He offered the flask lid.

Her eyes darted down to it. Cheeks reddening slightly, "yeah sure." She mumbled.

Harry looked at her strangely for a second, before shrugging, pouring out a fresh cup, handing the lid over to her, which she drank in silence.

She had to confess, she did feel her magical power replenishing. Not a massive boost, but there nonetheless. Interesting. She'd have to try it when she returned to Japan.

Re attaching the lid, Harry returned the flask to his bag. "Alright, enough slacking, let's get going." A quick glance at Rias reminded him of something, and a quick flick of his wand had her clothes knit themselves back together.

"Thanks."

"Don't mention it. Now, keep your eyes peeled, I'm certain there are enemies in this tunnel."

The tunnel was not smoothly carved. There were jagged crevices littered throughout the entire passage. He could sense the goblins were close. He could tell Rias was focusing on trying to spot anything that jumped out before they got too close, turning her head this way and that. He smirked, walking forward head held high. The eyes on his robe were not just for decoration.

Spinning around, he thrust his wand behind him, releasing a blast of flames. He immediately jumped back, a twisted looking creature lunging past the flames with wicked looking claws. Had he not known beforehand that it was a goblin, he likely wouldn't have guessed. Steam was rising off the things skin. He made a 'tch' sound, even as he swiped his wand diagonally down, slashing through the goblins torso. Magic resistance; that should have bisected it. Leaning his head back, he narrowly avoided its next swipe. His right hand lashed out, slamming into the side of the goblins face. The goblin was thrown towards the wall, a flick of his wand creating a large spike for it to be impaled on. Before it struck the wall, he span, slapping away a sword lunging for his back. A follow up blasting curse removed most of its chest. His eyes widened, and he immediately twisted his body, wincing at a lancing pain through his side. His wand lashed out, a whip of flame sliding through the space where a goblin had been stood with a bloody knife. The goblin disappeared. His eyes narrowed, it was close but he was able to follow its moves to where it skidded to a stop several feet back. He focused on his breathing, the comforting power of the planet flowing into him. He was still a novice with this, he couldn't use it for long. He could see Rias fighting, though she had sustained some injuries. Good thing he had some bezoars on hand for when this fight was over. He focused on the goblin rapidly closing with him, his wand lashing out.

* * *

Harry was panting as the last goblin fell. That had been a tough fight. Goblin Blood Alchemy was crude, but he had underestimated it. His entire body was aching. With a sigh, he released the energy of the world he was holding, slumping his shoulders in relief. That was the longest he'd managed to hold it for, he had a feeling his body was nearing its limits.

Thankfully, he was rather resistant to poisons, yet the burning feel of his wounds implied he should probably deal with it sooner rather than later. With a groan, he reached into a pocket, pulling out a few bezoars. He eyed them. He only had the three, just in case, but if he used one, and gave another to Rias, then he'd only have one left, meaning he'd have to be more careful on the rest of the way out.

Speaking of, he saw Rias limping over. He winced as he saw all the scratches she was covered in. Seeing her about to fall, he rushed over and caught her.

"Rias! You okay?" he called, concerned.

"Yeah, just tired," she tried to smile, "It seems I need to work on fighting where I can't just destroy everything."

"Yeah, wizards of old apparently had trouble learning to fight without alerting the entire city to it."

He took one of the bezoars, putting it to her mouth "Here, swallow this. It should neutralise any poison they were using."

"Thanks," she murmured, opening her mouth. Harry slipped the bezoar in, before swallowing his own, returning the last to his pocket.

He eyed her wounds. His were already closing, but she seemed to lack his- albeit limited- regeneration. He'd have to do something about it. He lacked aptitude for healing magic, even if devils weren't resistant to healing, so he'd have to do something else. He flicked his wand at her clothes. They seemed to unravel, before tightly knitting themselves back together, tightly hugging her body, causing her to wince. That was the closest he could get to bandages here. He'd have to get her to Susan, or someone.

"I liked those clothes." She complained.

He snorted. "Don't worry, I should be able to put them back together once I find someone to deal with your wounds. Come on," he helped her to her feet, "I think we're almost there."

"…Thanks for helping me out, by the way."

"Don't worry." Harry told her "You're my servant, I'm not going to let you be sacrificed if I can avoid it."

Rias made an affirmative noise as they neared the end of the tunnel. Birdy mark two flew out of the tunnel, and Harry breathed a sigh of relief. "Great, we're here."

Rias poked her head out of the tunnel, before gasping. She could see over the edge of the walkway, but she could see neither the top nor bottom of the cave. There was an extensive system of rails for the mine carts, which was quite impressive, but she could also see more goblins than she could count, as well as numerous trolls and other creatures. "That's a lot of enemies." She muttered.

"They're irrelevant, I'm close enough."

Harry closed his eyes. He should just about be able to manage it. He thrust a hand forward. A glowing magic circle appeared beneath his feet. Rias boggled at its complexity. "In my hand the creator's sword which calls eternal sleep, Honour our pact and heed my command. Animate Earth!"

Power seemed to explode off him, though nothing else happened.

"Er, Harry? I think it failed."

Harry ignored her.

"And, I see a bunch of goblins coming at us."

"Deal with it, I'm trying to focus."

She sighed, before tossing destructive blasts. Some of the goblins in resplendent silver armour were knocking the blasts aside with their shields.

"Er, it isn't working."

"Tch." After the noise of irritation, the earth seemed to surge forward, surrounding the two of them, leaving them in pitch blackness.

"I don't see how that's going to do anything." Rias pointed out.

"I'm literally sensing the entire 'Earth' under London. I'm going to crush all these tunnels, but I want to avoid affecting the rest of the city. I'm a little busy." His voice was strained, "So _please_, shut, up."

There were several moments of silence, broken only by the sound of goblins hammering away at dome of earth surrounding them. Then there were impacts that caused the ground they were standing on to shake.

"Harry!" Rias cried out.

His eyes snapped open. "Got it!" He clenched his outstretched hand "Crush!"

There was a horrifying sound as all the tunnels surrounded them collapsed. Rias gulped nervously, hoping that their little dome wouldn't collapse. After a minute, the power seemed to stop flowing from Harry and he made to fall forward. This time it was Rias who rushed forward and supported him.

"Harry! Are you alright?"

"Yeah. It seems I really owe Daphne a huge favour. If she hadn't extended her families pact with the Earth to me, this might have played out differently."

Rias bit at her lip. "How are you going to get out of here now?"

Harry chuckled mirthlessly. "It shouldn't be too hard to get to the surface. Just give me a moment." He pulled out his flask, "We'll have to get moving soon. I daresay I brought down the entire bank. It's going to attract a lot of attention."

"You know," he continued after a moment, "I think I just wiped out the British goblins, and stopped the economy dead." He chuckled nervously, "I really hope Dumbledore has a plan to deal with this."

Several moments later, he got to his feet, pushing Rias away.

"Are you sure you can stand on your own?" she asked with concern clear on her face.

He chuckled mirthlessly, "Who knows, but I can't show weakness. Let's go."

He picked up his wand from where he dropped it, and gave it a flick. The ground seemed to lurch as the sphere they were in shifted.

"Coming up to the surface." He muttered after a while.

After that, the ceiling seemed to crack and fall outwards, revealing the bright sky. Rias winced at the sudden bright light.

"Potter! What did you do?!" A voice screamed. They were stood in the middle of a large crater, surrounded by men and women in red robes.

Harry stepped forward. "Simple. This is what happens to things that _get, in, my, way_." He carefully punctuated each word.

"We're going to take you down, and put an end to this madness. Aurors, stun him!" the lead figure commanded.

Before Harry could do anything, a figure in an identical robe to Harry dropped down, casting a shield which blocked all the spells.

Rias's eyes widened when the figure looked back, revealing the face of another Harry Potter.

"Go, I got this. I punched a hole through the wards. A couple of turns ought to do it, right?" the second Harry said, turning back to the aurors.

The first Harry nodded, grabbing Rias. "Right." He said, as they disappeared with a crack.

* * *

They reappeared in Little Whinging. Harry immediately apparated again, appearing in Cornwall. He then apparated again, directly to Grimmauld Place. It was a sad fact, but both apparition and portkeys were able to be tracked, and people using portkeys were much less common. With future him fighting at the site of his first apparition, that should be enough to throw off any pursuers.

They landed with a thud in the entranceway of the building. Harry had to catch Rias since she fell to her knees retching.

"Yeah, magical transport tends to be unpleasant, especially since I jumped you around the country."

"What the hell, was it necessary to jump so many times?"

Harry shrugged, "Perhaps. Britain doesn't track magical travel to the same extent other countries do, but there are people who can read the 'residue' left by it. Just being cautious. Thank God I'm not Italian, they track the magical signature of every citizen at all times, it would be really annoying to get through that. Anyway, you okay?"

"I'm fine. More importantly, who was that?" She asked, getting to her feet.

"Me. Time travel." He said, cutting off her response. "Ask about it some other time."

"So Harry, who's this then?"

Harry looked over at where Sirius was lounging against the wall.

"Rias Gremory, a devil." He introduced. "This is Sirius Black, my godfather."

"A pleasure." Sirius said, nodding towards the girl.

"Likewise" she replied.

"Anyway, we're going back to the chamber. Sirius, grab what you need. It's time to even the odds."

Sirius grimaced. "It's unpleasant, but at the same time feels pretty good to land one against that bastard. We doing it now?"

Harry shook his head. "I need to heal up, then I have to do a tad of time travel. When future me returns, he'll deal with it when he's ready. Just go and set it all up."

"Right," Sirius nodded, "I'll go get everything I need and wait in the chamber."

Harry grimaced. "Right, I'll be there as soon as I can. Let's go Rias."

He led her over to the fireplace. Reaching into a pocket, he pulled out his special floo powder, tossing it into the hearth.

* * *

He left Rias in the chamber, and grabbed his cloak to go and retrieve Susan. He had to admit, he got a certain thrill out of sneaking around Hogwarts when he should be on the run. Despite the risks it posed, it had its benefits. Firstly, all his stuff was in the chamber, second, he had easy access to food and other necessities. He had prepared alternative measures for once he was done with England, but for now it was good to have the luxury, thirdly, Daphne and Dumbledore, who each had things to either teach or help him with were here, and being able to pick their brains was useful.

He came to a stop outside the classroom. He could hear the sounds of a violin playing. Peering into the room, all the students were sitting listening to Susan play. He idly noted that he was pushing aside some kind of magical compulsion. Given that several of the students seemed to be nodding off, and the remainder were struggling not to, it was clearly some kind of song of sleeping.

Harry paid close attention. He'd chosen Care and Divination for certain reasons, but Magical Music had seemed like an interesting class. He knew Susan took this class and Healing as her electives. The magical portion aside, Susan seemed to be an incredibly talented violinist.

Since becoming a sorcerer, the changes to his eyes were not just being able to see better. He could perceive magic. It was hard to describe. The best way to do so, was probably to describe it as intensely beautiful. Magic was made up of countless 'colours', and Susan was twisting the magic of the entire room, the colours swirling together. Even the music aside, it was breath taking to see.

In fact, he felt like he could just close his eyes and let all his troubles slip away… He suddenly shook his head. She was good if she could manage to hit him with her enchantment. It was certainly an interesting field of study, he idly mused that maybe it would have been worth taking since nothing he'd found studying divination had helped him understand anything about the visions he'd had as a child.

Seeing the class coming to an end, he idly flicked his wand at Susan. She stiffened as she felt a feather light caress, turning around to see if anyone was nearby. Seeing no one, he saw her eyes darting around, no doubt looking for him. Never the less, she made excuses to her friends and went off down the corridor alone.

Harry took advantage of the situation to move behind her. "Susan, go to the chamber. See you there." He muttered.

He saw her nod, as he followed behind her.

* * *

"I'm not sure how much I'll be able to help." Susan admitted carefully, "Since devils have a natural rejection towards healing magic. I'll do my best, but I doubt it'll fully heal you."

"That's fine. I'll be grateful if you can manage anything at all. I'd prefer to avoid letting my family know about this."

"Then let's begin. First, let's get these bandages off. Harry, would you mind leaving for a while?"

"I don't really care." Rias informed her.

"Sure, I've got to see the old man, then get through some of the stuff I nicked from the Department of Mysteries anyway. Thanks for healing me Susan."

Rias pouted as he left.

"Disappointed?" Susan asked.

Rias shrugged "A bit. Why?"

"Honestly, I know it's hopeless, but I don't really like the thought of him looking at other girls."

Rias quirked an eyebrow. "Are you together then?"

Susan shook her head. "No, that's what's hopeless really. I know better than to ask him for any sort of commitment. What he's trying to do is too important for him to waste time on something like a relationship."

"What is he trying to do, anyway?"

"I'm sorry, I can't tell you. I doubt he told me everything, but I won't share what he has told me."

Rias was clearly disappointed. "But you do care for him?"

"Of course. He is an important figure to a lot of people, or rather, he was. I know he prefers to be considered as Harry Potter rather than 'the boy who lived', but to a certain degree, it's unavoidable. The little I've seen of him, the real him, leads me to cherish him a great deal. That he trusts me as much as he does means a great deal to me."

* * *

Harry was sat across from Dumbledore. The old man fixed him with a very unnerving glare. Harry met the gaze, a heavy feeling in his heart.

"So. Tell me how it went Harry."

"…I got the Horcrux. They knew I was there as I entered the foyer. They tried to take me down for the sake of their Gods, I got out."

"Destroying the bank, crippling the economy, and inadvertently committing genocide in the process."

"…I'm not apologising."

Dumbledore sighed. "I won't say I'm surprised. I had considered this outcome. I already have a method to deal with this."

Harry leaned forward, "Oh?"

He nodded. "Yes. It's not taught, a term of the last treaty with them, but the goblins pushed the dwarves out of Britain, and much of the world. Gringotts was originally made by them. I have a theory that it may have been the dwarves who truly made 'Goblin silver' though I cannot prove it. The dwarves themselves prefer not to meet with us, our inability to help them in that war being considered a betrayal. Well, we had other things to deal with at the time." He shook his head, "No matter. You, who wiped out their enemy, might be able to convince them to return. They can reclaim all the land and duties of the bank, and get the economy moving again. Until they manage that, though, I'll have to come up with something. When we finish here, I'll see if I can set up a meeting."

Harry nodded. "I'll trust your wisdom."

"Good. Now, the Horcrux?"

Harry pulled it out of his bag. "Here. The chalice of Helga Hufflepuff."

"It's a cup."

"Shut up, I'm sleepy."

Dumbledore chuckled, "Since you retrieved it, I'll grant you the privilege of destroying this priceless artefact."

Harry rolled his eyes. "Damned right I will." Getting up he retrieved the sword form where it was sat on the shelf. A quick strike later, the cup was destroyed, a screaming shade dispersing into the ether.

"And that, as they say, is that." Dumbledore proclaimed. "By the way, where is Miss Gremory? I feel you brought her here."

"I left her with Susan. She got somewhat injured."

Dumbledore quirked a brow, "Leaving two women together? I understand they like to gossip about things better left unspoken."

Harry barked a laugh. "I'm not worried about anything Susan and Rias discuss."

* * *

There came a whistling sound. "You really do have a nice body. Ahh, seducing Harry would be so much easier if I were so gifted."

"Daphne," Susan greeted. "What are you doing here?"

The new girl just shrugged, "Sensed you down here, figured I'd drop by. The devil hurt bad?"

Susan shook her head "Not really. It's just annoyingly difficult to get the healing spells to take."

"So you're interested in Harry as well?" Rias asked the new girl.

Daphne blinked, "I guess?" she hedged, "I don't really remember much of the time we slept together, so I'd really like to get, 'reacquainted' so to speak."

Rias gawked, "You slept with him!"

Daphne grinned, "Yeah, unfortunately I don't remember it well, but from what I saw, he'd probably rank in the top five of my past lovers."

Rias went red cheeked, "W-wha"

Daphne brought a hand to her chin. Rias wouldn't admit that she somehow found it made the girl look attractive. "Well, I'm not really interested in making him mine, I'm already his, but I suppose that out of everyone I've met, his genes would make the best addition to the Greengrass bloodline."

"Daphne!" Susan said incredulously, "you shouldn't be talking about stuff like that!"

Daphne rolled her eyes "Come on Susy, we both know he likely won't live till we're middle aged, letting the opportunity pass without thinking about it would be foolish. Even a prude like you must have given it some thought."

Despite her red cheeks, Susan raised her head proudly. "I had not considered it. I have no intention of having children with a man to whom I am not married."

"And yet," Daphne replied sardonically, "you've slept with him more frequently than I."

Susan made a squeaking sound as Rias turned to stare at her.

Rias shook her head, turning back to Daphne, "You don't really sound like you care that he sleeps with her."

Daphne shrugged, "I don't. It's not like I love him or anything. I've merely sworn to serve him, and relish the chance to do so in the bedchamber. When I'm not engaged with other matters, I see no issue with seeking other partners."

"Not to mention you spread your influence like some kind of slutty spider." Susan said darkly.

Daphne laughed. "I've not heard that one before. I might have to print that on my robes, 'the slutty spider'. Catchy."

"Ow!" Rias yelped.

Susan blinked, "Oh! Sorry Rias, I wasn't paying attention. Forgive me?"

"Yeah, sure, please not so rough, okay?"

"I have gathered the necessary materials." Came another voice.

"In here Cerea." Daphne called.

Rias watched in shock as a centaur entered the room. She'd never seen one before, and this one was more generously endowed than her! She didn't really judge herself based on appearance, but it still stung her pride.

"Is that?" Susan asked, trailing off.

"Yes, as much unicorn hair as I was able to get my hands on. Is this enough?"

"Yes, that should be fine." Susan replied.

The centaur fixed her gaze on Rias. She was sure it was in her head, but she thought she saw the girl smirk when her eyes landed upon her exposed bust "Is that creature of the nether another of the Harbingers mates?"

"Wha!" Rias started.

"No." Daphne responded. Her eyes flicked over to meet Rias's, before continuing in an amused tone, "she may have fallen for his charms, but for now she is merely a devil bound to his service."

Rias silently fumed. She had not been charmed! He was merely quite interesting for a human.

"I see." Cerea muttered. "You may call me Cerea. The Harbinger, Harry Potter, is my intended. I hope we can get along." The centaur said formally, inclining her head.

"Uh, likewise. My name is Rias Gremory, let's get along."

Rias's eyes drifted down to a mark emblazoned on the girl's chest. It looked like a horseshoe. Cerea noticed her gaze. "That is the brand of the exile. It shows that I have abandoned the pride of the Centaur people and thrown myself in with a human, like a common steed."

"I'm sorry for staring." Rias said.

"Don't be. I wear the mark with pride."

"There, I'm done." Susan said, pulling back.

Rias stood up, wincing. It was still a bit sore, but it was leagues better than it had been. "Thanks. I feel much better."

Susan sighed, "It kind of stings my pride to not be able to fully heal someone, but since you're a devil, I guess it can't be helped."

Rias looked down at her bandages.

"Is something the matter?" Daphne asked "I know I dislike wearing constricting clothes too, but it can't really be helped."

"Huh? No, the bandages were my clothes, until Harry turned them into bandages."

"Then it's a good thing the questing hero returns."

They all turned to look at the source of the voice, Harry Potter walking in from the forest entrance, wand drawn.

"Harry, you're back!" Susan called.

"Wait," Daphne interjected with a frown, "I know you're the real Harry Potter, but I also know Harry Potter is currently upstairs talking with the headmaster."

Harry laughed, "Yeah, that's past me. Or current me, depending on how you look at it." He drew out a time turner from his robe. "Got to love time travel."

Daphne stared in shock, before she broke into a perverse grin, chuckling darkly.

"Yeah, ignoring Daphne. I'm in a good mood, Rias, you had questions?"

"Huh?" she blinked, "oh, right. What are the limits of your time travel," her eyes lit up, "Do you have a hyperbolic time chamber?" she asked excited.

Harry tilted his head, "No idea what that is. Honestly, I know very little about the time turners, I'll have to look through the notes I procured from the Department of Mysteries." He flicked his wand at the pile of bandages, returning them to their former state.

"It's a room where more time passes inside than outside." She explained happily.

"Hmm, sounds interesting. I don't have anything like that, but it sounds useful." Seeing his answer, she sighed, but proceeded to dress herself in the clothes he had repaired.

"Harbinger, I have the unicorn hair." Cerea said, gesturing at the pile of silvery hair.

His eyes flashed, "Excellent. When the mutt and the old man arrive, I can make a move on Voldemort."

"Did someone mention me?" Sirius called, striding through the fireplace. He eyed the gathered girls. "Let me guess, that's Bonesy mark two," he said, gesturing at Susan, "Which makes that little Miss Greengrass."

Harry nodded, "Right. Now we're just waiting for the old man to bring the psycho."

Daphne walked forward. "Sirius Black. My mother spoke of you."

Sirius grinned, "Sorry, but I'm not into little girls."

Daphne grinned, "Don't worry, I'm not into scruffy has beens."

Sirius staggered back, clutching at his chest, "Scruffy has been! I'll have you know this is my grizzled ex-con look. And you wish you could get a piece of this." He gestured at his body.

Daphne made a show of looking him over, "A slightly above average technician, with decent equipment. The only saving grace being a canine animagus transformation. Sorry, not interested."

Sirius barked a laugh. "Harry, I like this one, you should keep a hold of her. And I'll have you know your mother begged for ol' Padfoot."

"Fascinating." Harry deadpanned, "But you're embarrassing some of the less thick skinned members of this little party."

A quick look showed the Cerea was clearly interested, Rias was failing to hide her interest, and Susan looked completely mortified.

Sirius barked another laugh, before putting a large, old book down on the table, followed by tossing an extravagant looking robe on top of it. "Right. That's all the crap I need for my part."

There was a burst of flames, which then vanished, leaving behind Dumbledore and Harry, an unconscious Bellatrix between them. "It seems everyone is here. Excellent. However, given what is about to occur, I must ask that everyone not directly involved depart this location." The headmaster announced.

The Harry that was with Dumbledore walked over to a table, taking a golden chain out of a drawer. "Right, I'm off. Places to go, stuff to do. Oh right," he said, looking over at the alternate version of himself, "I had an idea," he began, only to be interrupted.

"I know." Future Harry said, amused, "I had it too."

Current Harry laughed, "Of course, you're me after all." After spinning something on the chain, he vanished.

The other Harry took out his wand. Making a series of slow, deliberate motions, he levelled it at Rias. "Rias Gremory, you're business here is done. Return!"

Before she could blink, a magic circle appeared beneath her, and she disappeared in a flash.

Harry turned his gaze towards Susan and Daphne, the former of whom was already turning to leave. "Daphne, I owe you a great deal, I'll pay it back however you wish. What's about to happen is pretty gruesome, you seriously don't want to see it. Susan, you too."

Daphne sighed. "Fine, I'm curious, but I'll leave. You'll meet me up by the lake later this evening, okay? You seriously need more experience before you meet my mother so she can, assess, your progress."

Harry smiled weakly, "Sure. I'll be there."

Daphne smirked seductively, "I'll be waiting."

As Daphne turned to leave, Susan looked back. "Don't worry about it Harry, I'll help you anytime, no favour required."

"Thanks, that means a lot."

Dumbledore held up his hand, Fawkes appearing on it. "I have little interest in witnessing this, so if you will excuse me, I shall depart."

As he disappeared in a flash of fire, only Harry, Sirius, Cerea and the unconscious Bellatrix were left.

Cerea bowed, "If you will pardon me, I shall commence my evening training. I hope you will join me my Intended, I greatly cherish the time we train together." With that, she left.

"Well then, Harry, shall we get this show on the road?"

Harry sighed. "Yeah, let's get this over with.

* * *

The Black Family earned their name, and their reputation. In the centre of the ritual room of the Chamber of Secrets, there was a large Magical circle. It was originally drawn in blood, though now it was solid black. More than that, it seemed to draw in the light from around it, an incredibly unsettling sight.

There was also an incredible heavy, ominous feeling in the air. Harry shivered. Against his will, his eyes were drawn to the object stood in the centre of the circle. A large- polished to a shine- Iron maiden. When Sirius claimed that the Black had gathered the largest collection of means to cause suffering, it was no bluff. This iron maiden was well used. It was old magic, things that were bathed in deep emotion obtained magic of their own. Positive emotions would create 'blessed' objects. These items were incredibly rare, such intense positive emotions, being sustained involving a single item was incredibly unlikely.

Negative emotions would create cursed objects. The effects of these curses were incredibly varied, but, while not common, they were much more common than blessed objects. The iron maiden in front of him was cursed. It was proof that it had bathed in almost endless suffering. The fact that the Blacks had many items such as this was more than enough for him to understand why Sirius had tried to abandon the Black family and all that went with it. He felt a pang of regret that he was making Sirius do this. He'd likely not done it since he'd fled the family as a teen.

His eyes were drawn to Sirius, who was stood in the circle next to the torture device. He had a look of focus on his face as he examined the circle. He was wearing an ornate robe, black with patterns of shining silver covering it. Harry could sense the power in the garment, though the power wasn't particularly pleasant. Harry stood and waited as Sirius ensured everything was workable.

Harry shivered at the depressing aura. Bellatrix was lying next to him, bound in magical ropes. Looking at her sunken features, he felt a stab of pity. He crushed it, he was well aware of the atrocities the woman had happily committed, and would happily go on to commit were she free.

"We're good to go Harry." Sirius called.

Harry nodded, getting to his feet. He moved to stand about twenty foot from the circle and braced himself.

Meanwhile, Sirius, moved around to the other side of the prone woman, cast an enervate at Bellatrix, rousing her from slumber. Another flick brought her to her feet. Her eyes widened on seeing him. "Sirius!" She cackled, "Oh cousin, how I've missed you. I can't wait to see the look on your face as the Dark Lord takes everything else you have left."

Sirius grimaced. "Bellatrix, I wish I could say it was a pleasant reunion, but I honestly wished to never see you again after I escaped Azkaban."

She cackled again. "You will never be rid of me Sirius, even if you kill me, I have left my mark on my victims, and they will spread suffering in my wake. My legacy will continue, as will my Lord. You will never best him."

"We'll be striking a blow against your precious Dark Lord now, and you'll be helping us." He twirled his wand as the mad woman's eyes widened. The moment her eyes landed on the iron maiden, she began screaming.

"Sirius, you can't do this! We have our differences, but we're family! We're both children of the Black! We're blood! Please!"

Sirius flicked his wand, floating her over to the device.

"I'm sorry Bella. I loved you. When we were children, you were my favourite cousin. If things had been different… I'm sorry. You made your choices, and I… I made mine. Goodbye Bella."

Her screams continued even as the door slammed shut. They became muffled, but they still struck Harry's heart. As blood began to seep out of the bottom of the device, Sirius began chanting, moving his arms around in an intricate pattern. Harry couldn't make out the words over the sound of the screams.

The black circle nearest the device began glowing red. The red glow slowly spread throughout the circle, and Sirius's chanting did not stop, even as his voice turned hoarse. Eventually the circle was fully red, and Sirius approached the device, still chanting. He reached for a hole at the breast of the woman modelled on the cage. His hand sank into the device, and moments later the agonised wails intensified as his hand withdrew a pulsating lump of muscle from it. Harry's eyes were fixed on the still beating organ. He gulped in trepidation.

Sirius, still chanting, placed his other hand hovering over the heart. Waving it around, flexing his fingers in some arcane pattern, Harry watched as dark purple, nearly black energy seemed to coalesce around the heart, throbbing in time with the hearts beat, before flowing to his hand. Harry's hopes of the shrieks ceasing were dashed as they continued on without end. Sirius turned slightly, raising his hand, before swinging it down, ending with it pointed at Harry.

Harry flinched bracing himself. He staggered back as _something_ slammed into him. He gasped, as a feeling of wrongness seeped into every pore of his body. He gasped for breath, even as his body seemed to burn. Something impacted his hands, and he realised he had fallen to his knees.

After what seemed like an eternity, the fiery feeling seemed to pass, and his breath began to return easily. He tried to struggle to his feet, and suddenly Sirius was there pulling him up.

"Harry! Harry! Are you alright?!" Sirius's voice was hoarse.

"I'm fine." Harry muttered, staggering as Sirius let him try and stand on his own.

He glanced over at the iron maiden. "Can't you shut her up?"

Sirius shook his head. "Until we take her out of the device, she'll continue to scream, and taking her out will kill her. You said you still needed her for something."

He grimaced. "Right. This curse hits all of my descendants, and by 'inheriting' my blood, Voldemort should count. How long before it hits him? And will he notice?"

Sirius shook his head. "It should definitely have reached him by now. And he wouldn't have felt it. It only felt so bad to you since I chose to not be subtle, letting more power into the curse. He should inherit the full curse. I hope your idea to get out of the curse works, Gods know that my family has no way to do that without ending the entire curse."

Harry nodded. "I believe it will work. Thanks Sirius, I know it can't be easy having to do this, especially to me."

Sirius sighed. "I, don't worry about it. I'm tired. I'm going to go home. Be careful Harry."

Harry slumped to the floor as Sirius left. He flicked his wand, gouging a circle around the device, and a quick spell, and the sound cut off. Harry sighed. Couldn't be silenced, huh? Quick way around that. Silence something else.

He fell on his back and closed his eyes. He'd just rest a moment.

* * *

His eyes snapped open as he was shaken awake. "Susan?" he muttered.

She smiled. "That's right. Are you okay Harry?"

He groaned, "Yeah. Just peachy. Help me up?"

She pulled him to his feet.

"Come on, I wanted to get it done earlier, but I need to do something with that unicorn hair Cerea gathered for me."

"I know." She said, amused, "I was the one who told you I'd need it. Come on, let's unravel that curse. You'll be fine in no time."

"I really am blessed to have you." He laughed.

* * *

**A.N. So here ends chapter six. At the risk of flogging a dead horse, I have a few things regarding Issei and DxD that I find annoying that I'd like people's opinion on. First off, him putting an 'anti-dragon sword' in his dragon type gear without any problems, and popping it out at will. Also heaven giving it to him before they got the truce. Second, I like the whole 'double power once every ten seconds' thing, can anyone explain why he was able to boost like ten times in one second when someone claimed Vali could halve Rias' breasts? I get SG's respond to the user's will, but that really vexed me. Third; Bilingual. Particularly how he created it and knew how it worked whilst on a mountain with no breasts for literally miles. Was anyone else bothered by any of that? Also how Balance breaker requires 'a profound mental shift' or something, and how he got that.**


	7. Chapter 7

**A.N. IMPORTANT NOTICE; I originally wrote this as part of the last chapter, so I may have rushed through the ending before I separated them. I originally wanted to edit it more, but unfortunately a comment that came to me had me, against my better judgement, check out the boosted gear DxD wiki page (Something I prefer to avoid doing since I lack context). Yeah, my interest in DxD died. It may come back, but until further notice, consider this story on hold.**

**And to respond to a guest review; I'm saying HP magic works by mostly screwing the rules, I'm not saying something like 'This is how something works, so xxx is impossible, screw that, Harry's doing it anyway.' I'll leave it there though.**

**On the killing curse; you're exactly right, if someone like Sirzechs or Azazel learned how dangerous the AK is, then the chance of them letting it hit them is incredibly low. Currently though, they 'don't' know how dangerous it is, and if it **_**does**_** hit them, they die. Since I've heard a lot about Sirzechs 'true form', so I'm considering the issue of him more carefully. Congratulations, now it's simply all the other devils who can be killed by it. Unless you can offer a complaint about it that isn't 'they're immune since they're so awesome'.**

**On Sirzechs, I've heard his body is a 'shell/seal' on his true form, but I've also heard from the wiki he can convert himself into that true form. Those sound like some very different things, so which is correct?**

**To quickly counter that guest review for this chapter, devils don't know about 'killing curse and shit' because Wizards hid all knowledge of Wizards, as I mentioned early in the story. Not because 'devils are useless.' I've heard how devils are working for peace, but newsflash, that's a new thing, and the ICW 'is' considering negotiations. As I said. Also, as I've said, repeatedly, the killing curse 'is not something that can be thrown around by everyone'! Most people seriously 'can't cast it!' Perhaps I should go to forums, no doubt it would help. However since everything I'm doing is wrong, how about you tell me how you'd write a HP Crossover that wasn't stupid? Where the main character didn't become a devil or angel, and how wizards wouldn't suck in it? The fact that you've read a DxD crossover with HP means you must think the possibility is there, how would you do it?**

**s/he says I upgraded the Killing Curse to a super kill anything spell. **

**From the wiki;**

**It is one of the most powerful and sinister spells known to wizardkind. When cast successfully on a living person or creature, the curse causes instantaneous death.  
**

**So, yeah. Not sure how _I _am making it more powerful than it is. **

**If everyone not casting it is a big sin, then, also from the wiki;**

**"Avada Kedavra's a curse that needs a powerful bit of magic behind it — you could all get your wands out and point them at me and say the words, and I doubt I'd get so much as a nosebleed."  
**

**So, yeah, that's not me making shit up either. I'm simply _interpreting_ that.**

* * *

The next morning, Harry was feeling perfectly fine again. The curse should be removed, though he had to leave the unicorn hair bandages on just to make sure. He picked up the lookie-talkie Sirius had given him, calling out "Sirius Black." Moments later, the man's face appeared on the mirror.

"Harry? It's only Ten bloody o'clock, what possible reason could you have for calling me up?"

"I need you to let Bellatrix out. I'm starting the next part."

He sighed. "Fine, give me a minute, I'll be right over."

"Thanks."

Putting the mirror down, Harry walked over to his work desk, picking up what looked to be a long metal spike. He spun it around a few times, examining it, before pressing an indentation at one end. Immediately, several silvery tendrils shot out in several directions. Pressing the indentation again caused them to recede. Harry grinned, hopefully it would work.

His eyes were drawn to the still beating heart on the desk. Given its importance, he moved it into one of his draws. If the heart was destroyed, then the curse would be too. He couldn't risk it to accidental destruction. After that, he cracked open some of the books he'd taken from the Unspeakable's while he waited for Sirius to arrive. Who knew what defences were on the books? He'd have to read them the old fashioned way.

* * *

"I'm here." Sirius called softly. Harry put his book down, giving a start when he looked at the man. He clearly hadn't slept well, he looked almost as bad as when Harry had seen him while he'd been on the run from Azkaban.

"You okay Sirius?" Harry asked, concerned.

"Yeah. Just didn't get much sleep, I'll be fine. Let's just get this over with."

Harry nodded, "Agreed."

They walked over to where Bellatrix's body was concealed, the screams starting as they passed the gouged circle Harry had carved around it. Sirius grimaced, "And there I hoped she'd somehow managed to die. This device really needs to be destroyed."

"No arguments from me." Harry muttered darkly. Left unsaid was that the defeat of Voldemort would have been much harder without it.

Sirius placed a palm on the device, willing it to open. They both grimaced at the sight of the body within, looking at them with pleading eyes, even as it continued to scream.

"Well Harry, do your thing." Sirius muttered.

Harry raised the metal spike, "This may sting a bit." He said, stabbing the device into the hole where her heart had been. Pressing the indentation, her body convulsed as the tendrils speared her insides. Her screaming shut off immediately.

The men took a step back. Closing his eyes in concentration, Harry focused on Bellatrix's body through the metal rod. In response, it took a few steps forward, before speaking, "Wow, this is weird."

"What's weird is hearing your voice from _that_." Sirius muttered darkly.

Harry opened his eyes. Reaching into his robe, he pulled out a rolled up piece of parchment. Tossing it to Bellatrix, he ordered "Catch." Her hand came up, obediently catching the scroll.

"Take that to Voldemort, and put this in your pocket," He instructed, tossing over a second piece of parchment.

"Understood" Came her monotonous reply. As she left, Sirius turned to Harry.

"Couldn't you possess her like Voldemort can?"

Harry shook his head. "Honestly? I have no idea how he does that. This was the best I can manage."

* * *

Bellatrix appeared in the centre of the entranceway of a grand manor. The dozens of death eaters that were also in the room recoiled in horror at the sight of her. She ignored their existence entirely, striding forward to the room where she knew Voldemort was waiting.

Pushing the door open, she strode into the room where Voldemort was meeting with is remaining inner circle. The moment the doors opened, several wands were levelled at her. She ignored them. As she walked forward, something seemed to slam into her mind, stealing what control of her body she had.

Harry was assailed by the familiar strange sensation as he seized control of the body. He looked up, meeting the crimson rings of Voldemort's eyes.

"Who are you? I can tell you are not Bellatrix, despite your appearance." He stated coldly.

Harry's lips twitched, "Can't you tell Voldemort?"

His eyes narrowed. "Harry Potter. To what do I owe the… pleasure?"

"Isn't it obvious Voldemort? You and I both know there is a prophecy linking us. I would put an end to our ever intertwined fates, once and for all."

The Dark Lord leaned forward. "Oh? And how do you suggest we accomplish that?"

Harry's lips twitched, "Simple." He tossed the scroll over to one of the Death Eaters. "Confirm it's not cursed or anything, and read that. It will all become clear."

At Voldemort's nod, the death eater opened the scroll, eyes flicking over the flowing script scribed there.

"My-My Lord" The death eater exclaimed, shocked, "It's an official letter of challenge, to a duel to the death, between yourself and the Potter boy, which Dumbledore will officiate. Dumbledore pledges to make no move against you while for the duration of the duel, and until after you depart, should you win." His eyes reached the bottom of the parchment, "I-It's a geas scroll my Lord! Violating it should it be activated will kill those who breach the terms!"

Voldemort narrowed his eyes. "And why should I agree to this?"

Harry smiled darkly. "Check the terms. Basically you pledge the lives of all your followers on the duel, I haven't the time to clean them up. In return, I'll tell you the prophecy. Should you win, you'll publicly kill a major thorn in your side, laying to rest all the doubts my survival caused about you. You'll publicly prove that you have returned, and are as powerful as you ever were, and removing the obstacle that stopped you last time. Need I go on?"

Voldemort looked thoughtful. "It is an interesting proposal. Very well. Lord Voldemort shall accept your challenge. When and where?"

"It's all on the scroll. Check the terms if you must, but if you'd just sign it, I'll be on my way."

Voldemort narrowed his eyes again, reaching for the scroll. After thoroughly checking the contract, he withdrew a quill from his robes. Spearing it into a hand, he proceeded to sign the contract in his blood.

Harry grinned as the contract burst into flames. Moments later a near identical piece of parchment dropped into Voldemort's outstretched hand, and glowing ethereal chains burst around it, sinking into his skin, and he knew a similar parchment appeared at both his and Dumbledore's sides.

"Excellent." Harry said darkly. Taking out Bellatrix's wand from her robes, he tapped the spike in her chest. It began glowing, before it disintegrated, and spreading out from where it was embedded, Bellatrix's body followed. "I'll see you in a week." He said. As his consciousness fled the rapidly disappearing body, he reached into the robe, pulling out a small piece of parchment, flicking it at the Dark Lord.

He could have tried to kill the dark lord there, he could think up several methods easily, but Voldemort did deserve his reputation, Harry would hold doubts he'd succeeded, and this way he could ensure the demise of all his marked followers as well.

* * *

Harry looked down at the newspaper Sirius had left when he'd returned home. On the front page was an emblazoned headline 'Student imprisoned for voicing support of illegal sorcerer.'

Harry snarled, how dare they treat _his_ friends in such a manner! He should completely destr- He shook his head, taking a deep breath and calming himself. He was getting better at dealing with the impulses left by his intimacy with Rias, but they were still an issue.

He sighed. He'd done his best, honestly, to protect his friends, and the idiot went and did something like this? Honestly he thought they were smarter than that. His mind told him it was a trap. Honestly, this was exactly why he'd tried to break ties with them! He got to his feet. Trap or no, he couldn't leave his sidekick to the tender mercies of Azkaban prison.

The fireplace suddenly erupted with pale green flames. Turning to look, he was surprised to see Sirius returning through them.

"Harry listen. I have a request."

Harry blinked, "Okaaay?"

Sirius took a deep breath. "Seriously, I've put a lot of thought into this. It's not the sort of thing you just ask a bloke on a whim, right?"

Harry was surprised Sirius wasn't doing his usual terrible puns. "I'm listening."

Sirius continued babbling, "I mean, it's the most important thing one man can ask another, right? I mean, I never even asked James. He was my best mate and all, but, asking him something like _this?_" He shook his head, "I mean, we even did a few devils threesomes, but asking something like this?"

"Sirius, you're babbling." Harry cut him off, suddenly knowing more than he ever wanted to.

He took a deep breath. "You're right. I'll just say it straight. I want you… to have my bike" He finished dramatically.

Harry blinked. "Oookaay? I'm grateful, I suppose?"

Sirius breathed a sigh of relief. "I mean, she's my baby." He said, "Watching her birth… damn near brought a tear to my eye. I remember her first drive, her first crash, God, I remember the first bird she helped me pick up."

"I get it Sirius!"

"It's just, I've never been there for you, and I know you're going off, and you don't want me to follow you, but I want you to have something. So, I want you to have my baby, my pride and joy, my-"

"SIRIUS! I get it! Seriously! Shut up, for God's sake man, pull yourself together!" Harry shouted, hoping by all that was holy Sirius would _just stop talking!_

The man reached into his pocket, taking out the shrunken bike. "I'll show you the basics of how to drive it, but I figured it would help if you were breaking into Azkaban."

"Heh, that predictable, huh?"

"Well, I know you'd hate abandoning a friend if there are other options."

Harry sighed, "Fortunately, I know an out of the way place where you can give me a crash course. Fawkes!"

* * *

Harry landed the bike on the rocks near Azkaban. Avoiding the dementor patrols was really a pain, thankfully his dementor countermeasure, a necklace that shielded him from their ability to sense souls, seemed to work fine. Reaching down, he pressed a hand to the ground. Closing his eyes in concentration, he sought out the life force of his friend. Sensing it on the far end of the island, he kept it in his mind as he mounted the bike again. Flying around the fortress, he looked through each window as he passed. Spotting a familiar spot of red hair, he grinned in relief.

"This situation feels somewhat familiar!" He called.

The figure shot to its feet. "Harry! What are you doing here?"

"What kind of person would leave their sidekick rotting in prison?"

"I'm not your sidekick, I'm your best mate." Ron replied reflexively.

Harry laughed, "Its good Azkaban hasn't destroyed your sense of humour."

"Not yet, anyways." Ron sighed.

"Ready for a dashing rescue?"

"Yeah. Let's get out of here."

"Okay, stand back."

As Ron moved away from the bars, Harry took out a small spray bottle out of his robes. Spraying the contents at the rocks around the window, he watched in satisfaction as they started to dissolve. About a minute later, there was a big enough hole for Ron to slip through. Aiming his wand, he fired a jet of water to wash the solution away. The fluid was resistant to magic such as transfiguring or vanishing, but he had made this batch weak to water.

He then proceeded to help pull Ron through the hole. As Ron swung his leg over the bike, a guard looked into the cell.

"The prisoners escaping! Potter's here!"

"And that's our cue to leave." Harry shouted, turning the bike, and racing off.

Moments later, "Harry, their chasing us on brooms!"

"Not a problem!" Harry shouted back, grinning. Reaching into his robe he pulled out what looked like a small glass orb covered in runes. Tossing it behind him, it began glowing, before giving off a bright flash. Ron, despite wincing at the flash, managed to see all the broom riders falling down towards the sea. He then noticed that the bike was falling too.

"Harry, we're falling!"

"I know!" Harry laughed. "Just a moment."

He turned the key again, and the engine roared to life, soaring back into the skies.

"That seemed too easy!" Ron called as they approached the mainland.

"I'd prefer you didn't call making three different things from scratch for the sake of this 'easy', but whatever" Harry retorted.

"Hah, fair enough." Ron conceded. "Wait, dementors!"

"Bloody hell. I only brought the one necklace. Fine, plan b. Expecto Patronum!" He yelled, the familiar silver stag erupting forth to drive them away.

Tucking his wand away, he tightened his grip on the handlebars. Twisting one of them, "Hold on!" he called back, as they sharply accelerated.

* * *

"Welcome to the Chamber of Secrets." Harry said grandiosely.

"Hogwarts, you've seriously been hiding out at _Hogwarts?_"

Harry laughed it off. "Genius, I know."

Ron groaned. "Anyway, I've been wondering, what did you mean when you said I cursed you back then?"

Harry looked over, yawning. "Hmm? Oh, in the great hall? Heh, I was being rather cynical. I meant 'friendship'. You 'cast' it on me, thus radically altering the choices I make. I wonder if the unspeakable saw through the deception or not?"

They continued walking in silence for a few moments. "By the way, why did you speak in my defence? I gave you the opportunity to save yourself."

Ron shrugged. "I betrayed you once before. I'm not doing it again."

Harry looked at him, bewildered. "Seriously?" he groaned. "If you're coming with me, I doubt it will be a pleasant journey. You sure?"

Ron nodded. "I'm with you all the way."

Harry sighed. "I hope you don't regret it. If you'll excuse me, I need to rest up. I'll be having a showdown with Voldemort soon."

* * *

Harry had to admit, he was impressed. It hadn't even taken a week for Dumbledore to set up a meeting with the dwarves. Aside from what he knew from popular myths, he had no idea what to expect from them. He idly wondered if his expectations –short people with big beards, big axes and tons of ale- were even remotely close.

"Remember Harry, do _try_ and not offend them. We are asking for their help." Dumbledore urged.

Harry sighed. "Sometimes, I really wonder what people think about me. I _can_ be diplomatic. I _can_ be careful, and I _can_ go five minutes without blowing something up." He snapped back.

They came to a stop outside a massive pair of steel doors. From what Harry could tell, they were in a location that bore many similarities to Scandinavia. That was it though, similarities. Apparently they were in some kind of extra dimension, or something. Dumbledore didn't explain it well.

Dumbledore flicked his wand at the door, and a loud, reverberating sound gonged out.

"Remember," Dumbledore urged again, "They haven't spoken to wizards in some time, and I believe they hold a grudge. _Be diplomatic_! I can't follow you in, so I'll leave you now." He reached up to pet Fawkes on his shoulder, before they disappeared in a burst of flames, leaving Harry alone in the snow, before the intimidating doors.

After several minutes spent looking around bored, the doors finally creaked open. Harry stared at the figure that came forward. Short, big beard, big axe. _Huh, apparently popular media got it right._ He thought to himself.

The dwarfs hair, and beard were white. He got the impression from the dwarfs face that he was rather old.

"Who seeks entry to the halls under the mountain?" The dwarf spoke in a rumbling tone. Harry was a little surprised, he had half expected a squeaky voice like Flitwick's… huh, he may want to avoid Flitwick if rumours of his heritage were true.

He shook his head, this was no time for such ponderings. "I am Harry Potter, Aspiring Sorcerer." He called out.

There was an expression of surprise on the dwarves face for a moment, before it became guarded. "And what does Harry Potter want?"

"I would speak with the Dwarves regarding what recently happened to the Goblins residing within Britain."

The dwarf raised an eyebrow "Oh? And what would that be?"

"I dropped all their tunnels on them." He said drily.

The dwarf's eyebrows both raised at that, before he broke out in a laugh. "Hah, serves those filthy gobbo's right, if it is true. Very well, you are granted entry to the mountain, Seidrmadr."

Harry followed the dwarf into the mountain. As he passed the great doors, they slammed shut with a mighty crack. Harry was led down a path lined with dwarves in heavy looking silver armour. The faces were completely concealed by simple helmets, giving no clue as to their expressions.

He was guided onto a platform, stood next to the dwarf that had led him in. Without warning, the platform began to move. As they raced past, Harry saw many massive machines. Without a closer look, he could not begin to grasp at their purpose.

His guide spoke. "The Dwarf people have always had a love of machines. We have long sought to combine our magic, which is different from your own, with our knowledge of mechanics, to create things that neither machines nor magic can accomplish alone."

Harry nodded. "It's praiseworthy. My family has always had a hunger for learning all there is to know about the arts of creation, but they had not studied the finer points of mechanics such as this. If I didn't have more important concerns, I would likely offer anything to receive your tutelage."

The dwarf roared with laughter. "You would have to offer much to receive our knowledge."

Harry grinned sadly, "Yeah, but like I said, more important things to worry about."

The silence continued between them, until the platform came to a stop at a large balcony with another pair of large doors. The dwarf stepped down, so Harry followed him.

His guide pushed open the large doors with little effort. Harry gasped softly as the room was revealed. The room was covered in ornate carvings, filled with statues of dwarves all wearing the same crown. The room contained hundreds of the armoured warriors he had seen at the entrance.

He gave a start as his guide gestured him to move. Walking down the aisle created by the armoured dwarfs, he came to a stop before a large golden throne, with a dwarf sat on it. It was wearing the same crown as the statues. The dwarf was clearly aged. Harry could see the lines etched onto his face, and his beard looked, from what Harry could see, to be longer than the dwarf himself.

The dwarf at his side suddenly spoke. "Presenting the Seidrmadr, Harry Potter."

Turning to Harry, the dwarf, on his knees, said harshly, "You are in presence of the dwarf king, kneel!"

Instead, Harry turned back to the king, giving a small bow from the waist.

"You do not kneel?" Came the gravelly voice of the ancient dwarf.

"I do not kneel." Harry stated calmly.

There were instant angry mutterings from the dwarves surrounding him. They were cut off by the slow laugh of the wizened old dwarf. "I see. You are just like the last of your kind. Full of the arrogance of youth, with more power than sense."

Harry said nothing.

"You are lucky, young Seidrmadr. I know of your kind. I know that if you did not believe in yourself to such a degree, your power would weaken. Your ego is tied to your power. It has been some time since the last of your kind graced these halls. That man succeeded in what he set out to do. I wonder… Will you?"

"I will not fail." Harry said stiffly.

That brought another slow laugh. "No. I daresay you will succeed as well. But enough. You did not come to allow an old dwarf his curiosity. Why are you here?"

Harry crossed his arms. "There is someone I need to kill. In order to do this, I had to retrieve an object that had been stored in Gringotts."

At the name of the bank, there was another round of angry mutterings. The king held up a hand, stalling them.

"I retrieved the object, but the goblins intended to sacrifice me to their gods on the way out. I took exception to that. I fought my way to the main cavern beneath the bank, and brought down every tunnel on their heads."

There was a shocked silence. The king held up a hand, laying it against his crown. "You do not lie. You truly killed every goblin?"

"So far as I am aware, I killed every goblin in Britain. There may be some that were not in the bank though." Harry said tersely.

After a moment of silence, a loud cheer exploded throughout the hall. Harry blinked, surprised. He hadn't expected that.

After a minute of cheers had passed, the king held up his hands, causing the cheers to trail off.

"It is amusing, that it was from the land they stole from us itself that they met their end. Am I to assume that the entire building was destroyed?" At Harry's nod. "I see. So, what is your purpose here?"

Harry paused. "My mentor, Albus Dumbledore… he told me that there would be an economic backlash as a result of my action, that I should try and resolve it before it gets too bad. He also told me that I should inform you myself of removal of goblinkind from Britain."

The dwarf king regarded him carefully.

Harry paused again. "I wish to request that the dwarves step in to excavate the vaults and reopen the bank."

There was another silence, broken by the soft mutterings of the dwarves around him. Harry held hope since the mutterings didn't sound angry.

"I must seek out the counsel of my trusted friends, but know I shall consider your request. Now though, it is time for a feast. Lunn, bring out our finest ale. We drink to the demise of those filthy rats!"

More cheers brought out, as the dwarf at his side bowed low, running off.

"Seidmadr!" The king's voice thundered out. "Your news has made me feel a century younger! You must join our banquet."

Harry offered a bow. "It would be my pleasure, Dwarf King."

* * *

Harry groaned as his head slammed into the table. His head was throbbing like crazy. It seemed that somehow his sorcerer physiology jumped straight past 'inebriated' into 'hungover'. He'd have to do something about that. The partying he had been enjoying, which was still going on around him, was beginning to hurt his head.

Getting up, he managed to stumble his way to the balcony he'd arrived at. A glance told him that the king, who still looked just as ancient, certainly didn't feel it since he had picked up a nearby dwarf and tossed him into someone, starting a brawl which was still ongoing.

Reaching the balcony, he took a deep breath, focusing inwards to undo the hangover. He'd not been taught this directly, but this was another one he owed Daphne.

He didn't know how much time had passed, but he was interrupted by a voice. "So you're the new Seidrmadr huh?"

Harry opened his eyes, glancing over. He could easily sense the other person's nature, the overwhelming existence seeming oppressive, and a look easily told him who he was dealing with.

"Odin, I presume?"

The one-eyed old man laughed. "Got it straight away huh? I'd forgotten how canny your kind can be."

"What do you want?" Harry asked bluntly.

"Right to business, eh? You sure you don't want to go to a charming strip club nearby before we get to it?"

"I don't have time for that nonsense." He said coldly.

The God sighed. "Why did the next sorcerer have to be _another_ bloody uptight Englishman?"

"Because Britain produces the best wizards hands down, bar none." Harry replied blithely.

The God chuckled at his response, making no move to counter his statement. "So tell me, given what the last one did, why shouldn't I stop you right here?" he asked in a bored tone.

"You can try. I doubt I could beat you, but I'm certain I could get away. And it would no doubt piss off my new friends."

The God laughed. "Relax, I was just joking. Your kind always stir things up, making the world more interesting. I just wanted a look at the man that caused such a ripple."

Harry stared for a moment. "You know, I'm wondering. You shouldn't be able to remember wizardkind."

The God observed him, thoughtful. "Yes, I'm aware. I and a few other beings managed to recall your kind somewhat when you turned yourself into your current state. With that, though, I wouldn't be surprised if the veil you people erected started decaying. You'll have to be careful if you want to avoid it falling entirely."

Harry tilted his head. "Not trying to take it down yourself?"

The God chuckled. "_That_ might just start a war, I don't really want that."

After a few more minutes of silence, the God spoke again. "Well, if you won't visit the club with me, I'll be returning to the hall." He gestured over his back, "They're not really my type, but the dwarf maidens are about to start dancing.

Harry sighed. That old geezer may be a God, but he could already tell he was more annoying than Dumbledore.

* * *

"Good news." Dumbledore proclaimed, walking into the chamber.

"Oh?" Harry asked, looking over. He was currently training with Cerea, if that's what you called her hitting him with a stick to hone his already impressive reflexes.

"Indeed. The dwarves have already began excavating the tunnels. I'm impressed I managed to get things moving so swiftly, especially given my less than popular status right now. It would seem the ministry cannot undo decades worth of goodwill with hearsay alone."

Harry nodded, relieved. Knowing he had plunged the country into economic crisis would have troubled him greatly. That it would be sorted out was a weight off his mind.

"You should take it easy Harry, your confrontation with Voldemort is soon, you need to make sure you're in top shape. I'm ready for my part."

Harry nodded, rolling his shoulders. "I know. I was just getting a little last minute refinement in before I visit Daphne's place. Her mother wants to check my process."

Dumbledore nodded. "All right. Remember, pack up everything you need. After you defeat Voldemort, you may not get another chance to easily visit this place."

"Right," Harry agreed. He could apparate across the country, but almost all countries had countermeasures to prevent unlawful entrance by magical means. If he pushed through them, the country in question would know it instantly. Getting back to Britain would be difficult, especially if he was painted as a criminal in the muggle world as Sirius was.

He snorted in amusement.

"Oh? Something funny Harry?" Dumbledore inquired.

"Yeah, just imagining my relatives' reaction to me being a 'criminal' if it gets revealed to the muggles."

"I believe you were declared a terrorist in the muggle world, though I am unaware of any actions they have attributed to you."

"Figured. Oh well. I'll just have to deal with it I guess."

"Ready to go Master?"

He looked over to where Daphne had entered the chamber. "Yeah, sure. Speak to you later Cerea."

The centaur nodded, taking back the wooden weapons they had been practicing with. "Very well.

* * *

There was a loud snapping sound. Harry groaned as he pulled himself out of the tree he'd slammed into. It seems that Daphne's mum's idea of 'testing' his progress was to strip him of his wand, (and his clothes), hit him with magic that stripped him of his senses, and make him fend her off relying only on the information he could grasp through the lifestream.

"_This_ is what a sorcerer is capable of?! Daphne was better at this before she even went to Hogwarts."

He span in place, catching the leg that came for his head, only for something to slam into his other side.

"Listen, Spiritus Terrae, the breath of the Earth, is about being part of the greater whole. You have to take the power of the whole into you, while maintaining your 'self' as separate to it. Breathe the power into yourself, and let it guide you."

He took a deep breath. His body was aching, a sure sign that he was pushing into his limits with the technique. Suddenly he felt a change come over him, he felt calm, at ease. It was as if his problems no longer mattered. He could picture the glade he was standing in with clarity. The woman across from him rushed at him.

He brought his hands up to deflect her attack. She furiously launched a flurry of attacks, but he managed to avoid being hit. He didn't get a chance to counter attack, but he was doing better than he'd done before.

The woman jumped back, "Alright, that's enough. You can remove the charms now."

He slumped his shoulders in relief. Focusing inwards, he altered the energy within himself, overcoming the foreign magic halting his senses. The technique was only really capable of using magic that affects himself or people he was touching, rather than true wandless magic, but it was useful none the less.

His eyes settled on Mrs Greengrass, before he looked away. To be honest, clothes were not his area of expertise, but he couldn't identify what her chemise was made out of, let alone why she thought it suitable to fight in. It was a shimmery black, and completely see through. He was embarrassed just looking at it. He shook his head, pushing such thoughts away.

"So, how'd I do?"

She shrugged, "acceptable, I suppose? You just barely managed to grasp how to use it properly. Honestly, I think a little remedial training is in order for my daughter." Her eyes seem to light up with the same smouldering fire that Daphne had, "Anyway, now that that's over with, there's something else I need to evaluate."

Harry took a step back "I've got an important fight coming up, I don't need traces of your enchantment getting to me."

She laughed, "Is that all the complaint you can muster? Let me let you in on a little secret. I don't 'have' to cast that enchantment, and even if I did, it's easily avoidable." She rested a hand on her abdomen "When a man and a woman fall hopelessly in lust, and give in to their carnal passions, the man leaves his concentrated essence within her. You should know how dangerous blood can be; picture that times five. By altering the magic that takes place in here," she patted herself, "rather than make new life, we cast compulsions. We had to alter our wombs to be able to do this, if you don't want to risk my little charm, just engage in some more… interesting play." She said, as she sashayed towards him.

He took a step back, "none the less, I think I should be going…"

"Mother! You bitch!" came an annoyed shout. They turned, seeing Daphne at the edge of the glade. "How dare you try and seduce Harry when I haven't been able to have a night I can remember with him yet!"

Mrs Greengrass chuckled in a sultry manner, "don't blame me for your own shortcomings my daughter. Like I'd let this chance pass me by."

"Well, I'm just going to go…" Harry mumbled, backing away.

"My..! That does it! Harry, I'm calling in that favour. We're going to show this old hag how the carnal arts should really be performed!" Daphne proclaimed, slamming one foot into the ground, and one fist into an open palm.

"Old hag?! Fine then, I still have a thing or two to teach a precocious brat like you!"

Harry sighed.

* * *

"So that's the situation." Harry explained. He was sat across form Sona and Rias, having summoned them both. He'd made sure to let them know in advance so they wouldn't risk their friends realising they were both gone.

"So, basically you want us on standby, in case you need help. So we have to waste the entire day on an off chance you need us." Sona summarised, displeased.

"Right, Voldemort's a tricky opponent, I honestly have little idea what he's capable of, and Dumbledore knows only a fraction of it. I don't know what will happen, so I'm preparing what I can now."

Rias stood, stretching out. "Okay, we'll be ready. But we'd like some sleep before that then. So if you'll send us back?" she yawned. Harry guessed she had her own circumstances.

"Sure. Just be ready. If I summon you, it will probably be in the middle of a fight."

* * *

Harry was stood with his eyes closed. He was stood in the hills behind Hogwarts, sufficiently out of the way that no one should stumble across him. Dumbledore was stood a few feet away, happily humming some ditty. They expected Voldemort to appear soon. Harry expected that once he showed up, he would want to examine the area for traps, even though their contract forbade them laying any. It stated nothing about things they'd done before signing, after all.

Honestly, Harry would have preferred to have nothing to do with a 'fair fight' like this, but Voldemort was canny enough that they were unlikely to catch him in a trap, and there was no way he would agree to show up somewhere where he would be forced to cede a major advantage to his opponent.

He opened his eyes. From what he had been able to tell, he was able to hold the power of the earth for a much greater amount of time, long enough that he had not been able to determine his limits in the time he had been able to practice between his visit to the Greengrass home and here. Sensing a familiar twisting of energy, he was unsurprised when Voldemort appeared with a loud crack.

There was a moment of silence while Voldemort looked around. "I'm somewhat disappointed. I had hoped to strike fear into the crowd with my appearance, yet there is no crowd to witness when I crush you."

Harry reached into his robes, pulling out the golden snitch he had been toying with. A flick of his wrist sent it into the air. "Don't worry, this will play our duel in both Diagon alley, and Hogsmeade. Most of wizarding Britain should witness when I conclude our business.

Voldemort laughed. Harry ignored the shiver it sent down his spine. "I must applaud your sense of theatrics. I may have to learn how to cast those charms. On that note," he reached into his robe, pulling out a ratty notebook, tossing it to Harry. "Here, a compilation of all the knowledge of magic I have amassed outside of Hogwarts."

Harry raised an eyebrow, "And you're giving it to me, because…?"

"Do not misunderstand, Harry Potter, I fully intend to claim that back from your corpse, though I have made a copy in case your body does not exist to reclaim it from. Call this a show of respect. On the, 'very' slim chance that you prevail, I simply wish to ensure that my legacy lives on. Nothing more, nothing less. _If_ you manage to defeat me, then you had best accomplish whatever goal you are striving for; If I lose to someone who fails, then I will ensure whatever afterlife exists shall be pure misery for you."

Harry snorted, "And this isn't a trap?"

"Do you not trust your geas Harry? I swear upon it that I am not attempting to gain an advantage in our little duel."

Harry eyed him, before casting a few diagnostic spells on the book. Seeing nothing concerning, he tossed it to Dumbledore, "Hold on to that will you?"

"Do you not trust me Harry?" Voldemort asked with mock sadness.

"Not at all." Harry said drily. "Our geas wouldn't stop you handing me a book if you'd forgotten you'd cursed it. I'm not taking any chances."

Dumbledore placed the book on a nearby rock, before moving back towards them. "Well then, shall we get this duel underway? Do you declare that you are Harry Potter, and the self-styled Lord Voldemort?"

They both nodded, tossing the geas scrolls to Dumbledore, who quickly read through them.

"Very well. Before we begin… Tom, is there no way you will put aside this way of life?"

Voldemort laughed. "Why ask questions to which you already know the answer, _old man?_"

Dumbledore sighed. "Understood. Now then, if you will just give me a moment…" The old man disappeared with a small pop. Several moments later, a massive golden barrier burst into appearance. It domed over them, sufficiently high that Harry doubted anything they did would reach the top. The barrier seemed to extend quite a ways.

Harry whistled. "Wow, don't see us using all this."

Voldemort smirked. "We shall see."

Harry clicked his fingers, activating the snitch-camera with a thought. Simultaneously large images of the two duellists appeared in the two main magical hubs of Britain.

"I, Albus Percival Wulfric Brian Dumbledore, hereby announce the duel between the Sorcerer Harry Potter, and the Warlock Lord Voldemort. Bow, and you may begin."

Harry shivered as he felt the familiar feel of anti-apparition and portkey wards settle on them. Voldemort and him squared off against each other.

Harry and Voldemort both offered a bow, before Harry started by shooting a quick piercing hex, which was lazily batted aside by Voldemort.

"Hoped a quick start would seize the day." He muttered.

Voldemort smirked, "So predictable."

"The hard way it is." Harry snarled, His wand lashing out towards the serpentine man, a bolt of white lightning arcing out.

Voldemort twirled his wand, the lightning swerving around him. "You'll have to do better than that Harry." As the bolt returned, it was joined by a whip of fire, aimed to bisect him.

Harry slashed his wand down, directing the lightning in to the flame, creating a bright flash that burned his eyes. Ignoring the temporary pain, he flicked his wand at Voldemort, before jumping to the side, narrowly avoiding several spears of stone, even as he sent redactor curses to turn them to dust, his duels with Dumbledore teaching him the folly of leaving things his opponent had transfigured or conjured lying around.

He could see that Voldemort had raised a wall of stone to block his ice spears, even as he had attacked with his own spears. As he watched, Voldemort casually destroyed his ice, standing in same place he'd started, smirking at him.

The message was clear, even with such a brief exchange. Voldemort was more skilled than Harry was. Harry eyed Voldemort warily. He hadn't thought Voldemort would be so laid back as to allow a lull in the fighting. He narrowed his eyes, realising Voldemort was probably grandstanding. He was likely trying to put on a show for the public, that his absence hadn't harmed his power at all, and that he could casually crush Harry, the symbol of hope against him. That worked in Harry's favour, though he knew better than to get careless.

He reached into his pocket, grabbing hold of a can and tossing it towards his opponent. It had barely gotten a foot from him before Voldemort's wand flashed out, covering the tin in a light which reduced it to nothing. "I fought your father, boy, do you really think I'd let whatever tricks you've come up with get anywhere near me?"

Harry grit his teeth. He should have realised Voldemort would expect things like that. He spent another moment analysing his opponent, trying to see if the curse he'd put on him had taken effect, but he couldn't see anything suggesting it. Harry felt a bead of sweat form on his brow. If that curse didn't work, then he was probably going to die here. He stopped himself from shaking his head. He couldn't doubt himself here, there was too much at stake.

"If you won't make a move" Voldemort said in his cultured voice, "Then _I_ shall." He raised his wand,"Crucio." Even as he heard the first syllable, Harry flicked his wand up, conjuring a wall of ice to block the spell. A moment later it exploded, Harry ignored a scratch from a shard of ice as he cast a banisher, sending the shards at Voldemort.

The snake faced man twirled his wand. The shards of ice turned to water in the air between them, before they coalesced, and a tendril shot out, aiming for Harry's neck. He shivered as he sensed magical energy swirl behind him, twirling out of the way of the jutting spears that tried to skewer him from behind.

He fixed an image in his mind, jabbing his wand at the spear. It cracked and fell apart into dozens of creatures. Each had four legs that looked like swords, and were sharp enough to sink into the ground when they fell. Harry brandished his wand towards Voldemort as the pale man removed caused the ice to shatter, shooting towards Harry.

A quick banisher sent the shards back at Voldemort, with the creatures following soon after. He saw Voldemort respond by raising his wand above his head, making a small circular motion and swinging the wand down. Strands of black lightning arced off him, swirling around like a vortex. Every shard of ice and small stone creature that touched them were reduced to dust.

Harry had a bad premonition, he quickly jabbed his wand at his hand, causing a spurt of blood to come out. Voldemort twirled his wand, causing all the dust to coalesce into a swirling ball, crackling with the black lightning.

"This one's of my own creation!" Voldemort called, as he slashed his wand in Harry's direction. The orb of swirling dust seemed to form a drill shape and shot towards Harry.

"Come, Alpha, Omega!" Harry snapped, the two statues appearing in a flash before him, shields raised. He then span his wand around, "Aegis!" He called, a silvery shield jumping into existence between him and the statues. Moments later his statues exploded and there was a ringing 'gong' sound as the swirling lance impacted his shield. He watched, amazed, as a crack appeared in the Aegis. It was a spell that borrowed power from the legends surrounding Gods, that Voldemort's original spell almost broke it…

"Oh? You survived. Colour me impressed. Dumbledore had to evade that one with his phoenix, and knew better than to let me get it off again."

Harry shuddered, without Alpha and Omega to throw in the way with their specially designed shields, he didn't fancy taking another like that.

"But these creatures you created, they really are fascinating." Harry's stepped back as Voldemort turned the single remaining creature into twenty. "But you really should know better than to send transfigured things at a superior transfigurer, your creations are liable to turn against you." Voldemort chided.

"Glaciem Murum!" Harry snapped, creating another wall of ice as the creatures slammed into it. He could see the tips of their legs had punched through the wall, but it was still holding. He felt magic amass beneath him, and watched in horror as what appeared to be rotting limbs burst from the ground, seizing his legs. He felt Voldemort channel a great deal of power. He shivered, he really had to get out of here. He flicked his wand at the ground, "Glaciem!"

As the ground and hands froze over, a simple redactor curse shattered all the ice. He then twirled his wand in a large circle motion. The area enclosed by the circle seemed to shimmer, revealing a similar yet different landscape than what had previously been visible. He dove through the portal without hesitation.

He turned to look at where he had been previously stood, before paling considerably. "Oh, that's just not fair." He complained, before he threw up every useful defensive spell he knew for this situation. Moments later a flaming meteorite slammed into the ground he'd been stood upon.

* * *

Voldemort frowned as he stood alone on the barren, flaming wasteland. He thought he'd feel something when he finally put that Potter brat in the ground, but he instead felt a profound sense of disappointment. He casually surveyed the area. Normally when one of his spells got their first kill, he felt a sense of joy, yet this time…

He idly flicked his wand to the side, batting away another piercing curse. Ah, so that was why. He sighed, "Why won't you just die?"

A small explosion from a nearby hill was the response to his rhetorical question, as Harry Potter gasped in fresh, albeit burning air into his lungs.

"What… the hell… was that… you insane… bastard!"

Voldemort eyed the boy's scruffy appearance. "Another spell of my design, and you ruined its debut," he sighed, "An apocalypse type spell modelled after the meteor that eradicated the dinosaurs. It should inflict 'extinction' on the species of any creature hit, within a certain vicinity. Aside from myself of course."

Harry gaped at him, "Within a certain vicinity… you could have wiped out all the Hogwarts students with something like that!"

Voldemort frowned, before shaking his head. "No, I am almost certain that Dumbledore's barrier would have stopped the effect, and even if it didn't, well, people can always have more children. I don't really see the big deal."

Ignoring the Potter boy's ignorant horror, Voldemort frowned in contemplation. If he had avoided being 'hit' by the meteor, then he likely negated the 'extinction' effect form targeting humans. Oh well.

"I must say, I am grateful to Dumbledore, something I never thought I'd say." He admitted, "I rarely get a chance to let loose, as it were, and that spell it too large in scope to use, particularly since I wanted to rule Britain, not destroy it. Not having to worry about things like that when I duel is a refreshing change." He said conversationally.

Seeing as the Potter boy wasn't saying anything, Voldemort frowned. Something felt strange. He flexed his fingers, or rather, he tried to. Frowning, he brought a hand up to eye level. His eyes widened as the hand had been turned to stone.

"What." He said flatly.

"About bloody time." Potter's voice rang out, relieved.

Voldemort turned to face the boy, "What do you know about… this?" He said, his voice containing a cold fury.

"I know that I killed the only people who'd willingly tell you how to undo it. And that I now only have to outlast you rather than win outright." He said smugly. "That's evened the odd's I'd say… now, let's tip the scales in my favour."

* * *

Harry stretched his hand out towards Voldemort, "In my hand the creator's sword that calls eternal sleep, honour our pact and heed my command. Animate Earth!"

Voldemort snarled as he started the chant, bringing Harry a sense of satisfaction. Voldemort thrust the hand that was not turning into a statue out to the side, "In the abyss, the trident of Hell's Lord dances. Dripping crimson truth lights the one true path! Maleficent Harm!"

As Harry finished, the earth seemed to erupt from under him. He staggered a bit, but kept his footing as a colossal golem formed beneath him. One of the hands began to glow a furious orange as he willed it to heat up. As it began to drip, Harry willed it to punch at the swirling darkness that had enveloped Voldemort. There was a shuddering sensation as the glowing limb impacted the darkness. Harry's eyes widened as the hand seemed to break apart and crumble where it connected. A tendril of darkness lashed out, slamming into the shoulder of his golem. Where it touched, cracks began to spread out.

His eyes narrowed as he watched the threads of magic involved. Whatever it was broke things down, or perhaps 'rotted' might be a better word. The cracks spread far enough that with a grinding sound, the entire limb fell from the golem. Harry willed the rest of his golem to separate, the portion he was standing on being sucked back down to ground level while the rest jumped in the way of other tendrils of darkness that broke away from Voldemort's cocoon.

As his feet settled on the ground, Harry reached down to lay his hand against it. The entire area beneath Voldemort began glowing as it erupted in a pillar of lava. Even before his eyes the lava rapidly cooled and dispersed from the power of Voldemort's great magic. He grit his teeth, it seemed Voldemort had a superior great magic to him in this fight. He wasn't done yet though. He focused his attention, large spears of earth shot towards Voldemort from all directions. He kept up the barrage, shifting the ground under him to evade any tendrils that came close.

The training with Daphne's mum was the only thing that saved him, as he was forced to leap to the side to evade a pair of tendrils that burst from the ground beneath him. He cursed, the moment he'd lost contact with the earth, his great magic had ended, while Voldemort's was ongoing.

He redrew his wand, sending a severing curse at the nearest tendril. The curse seemed to be absorbed with no other effect, other than the tendril lancing towards him. Focusing on the energy within him, the world seemed to blur as he dashed out of the way. The next couple of minutes left him snarling in anger as every spell he threw at the swirling darkness had no effect. He couldn't even see Voldemort to target him. The only solace was that every moment Voldemort held the magic accelerated the curse petrifying him.

His eyes widened as several tendrils burst out around him. They were fast enough he got little warning when they would appear from the ground. Seeing there was no easy way to dodge, he cast the first spell that came to mind while looking at the putrid darkness which he hadn't already tried, "Expecto Patronum!" he shouted in desperation.

To his shock, as a tendril impacted the stag, they all seemed to ripple, and a screeching sound filled the air. The patronum seemed to pulse, as the tendril darkened the area around the point of contact, as if trying to expel it.

Moments later, all of the darkness just vanished, revealing Voldemort, down on one knee, holding onto his arm while panting in pain and exertion. He had ripped off a sleeve, showing that the stone reached up to his shoulder. Voldemort was clearly worse off after that exchange than Harry.

"What, did you do?!" he snarled.

Harry was going to ignore him, until a thought occurred which caused him to break out in a grin. "Can't you tell Voldemort? It's just like Dumbledore always says."

Voldemort's eyes widened, "No you bloody don't!"

Harry grinned like the cat that got the canary, "It's the power of love!"

This time Harry quickly summoned some stone into the path of the killing curse Voldemort threw his way.

"But seriously though, the curse hit you because you 'inherited' my blood, and its power is drastically increased by dear old Bella's hate of me… which stems from her _love_ of you… so it really _is_ the power of love!"

Voldemort gave an inarticulate scream of rage, before he pressed his hand against the floor, snarling something.

A glowing magical circle appeared beneath him, and a being emerged in a flash of light. A being with a half a dozen black wings.

Harry's eyes widened, "Oh fuck!" he pressed his hand to the floor, "Rias, Sona, Come, Now!"

A pair of circles appeared beneath him, and the two girls appeared, Rias with her arms crossed beneath her bust, and Sona with one hand reaching up to adjust her glasses.

"So you do need our help after all." Sona stated with narrowed eyes.

"Voldemort's mine, you deal with the fallen angel."

"Understood." Sona said.

"Leave it to us." Rias agreed.

"To think," came the beautiful voice of the fallen, "that I would get the chance to slay the heiresses of the Sitri and the Gremory whilst bound to the cause of this human," The last word was spoken with a sneer, "Lord Kokabiel will be pleased."

"I'm going to blow you away!" Rias challenged.

"Rias, we must be cautious. It's a dangerous opponent, we have to work together." Sona interrupted.

"I know." Rias agreed. "We both need to come out of this alive."

"You underestimate me," The fallen sneered, "just try and live long enough to amuse me."

"Sona, Rias, try and get him away from here, even in his current condition, Voldemort demands my full attention. And please, don't get too injured. You both know how dangerous even a scratch from him will be."

Rias rolled her eyes, "Believe me, we know how dangerous a fallen's 'light' is to us. We'll be fine."

Rias and Sona sprouted their wings, taking to the air as the fallen followed them.

Harry and Voldemort were left in silence as they left. "So, was that meant to help you?" Harry asked.

Voldemort grimaced, "I didn't think you'd be able to summon help, I had him on standby to provide enough power to transport himself here if I needed."

Harry chuckled, "Funnily enough, I did too."

The two of them stood facing the other. From what Harry knew of the curse he had cast on Voldemort, the petrification should spread until it reached his heart, at which point it would petrify his entire body. The progress was slow, though, and he needed to make Voldemort use magic to speed it up. That said, Harry really didn't want to waste too much time and energy. Even had he not publicly displayed this duel, the ministry would have felt it, and sent people to apprehend him. He wanted to finish this without being in too poor a state.

Harry smirked, "Every spell you cast increases the rate of petrification. It's why I forced you to use a great magic earlier, it tired me out somewhat, but it made that curse much more dangerous for you."

Volemort snarled in response, slinging an unknown spell at him. Harry blurred out of the way, reappearing off to one side, blurring again as he closed in on Voldemort quickly, his foot lashing out for his side.

There was a sharp sense of pain, before he slammed into the floor, rapidly rolling out of the way of a follow up spell. Harry got to his feet, staring at Voldemort, who took this opportunity to sneer at him, "Do you think you're the only one to enhance your body? I am the Dark Lord, my body is vastly superior to an ordinary wizard's body, and I've had much longer to both improve and get used to it. Don't think you can easily end me with physical power."

Harry grimaced. He should have anticipated something like that; He should have considered that Voldemort would have improved his physical state to give him an edge. He was lucky to get away with just taking a bludgeoning curse, if he tried again, Voldemort would probably be ready enough to hit him with something much nastier. _Screw it_, Harry thought, he'd just have to overwhelm him with non-stop attacks. Either one would get through, or the curse would get him. Had to be careful for counter attacks though. He eyed the stone limb. If Voldemort knew magic to reverse petrification, which was pretty unlikely, or could get his hands on mandrake restorative draught, which was more unlikely, then he would be able to undo the symptoms, forcing the curse to begin from his fingers again.

"Alright!" Harry said, mostly to himself, "going all out!" He quickly raised his wand in the air, pointing it to the heavens. The quickest way to end this was to force Voldemort to defend himself with magic, that meant using attacks where he had no option but to do so, and bringing out his strongest defences required strong attacks. He couldn't use another great magic, it would be borderline suicidal, but there were other options.

Borrowing the power of belief that Gods used produced immensely powerful effects, but there were dangers. Those Gods would certainly feel _something_, and they may take offense, as well as using a lot more of the casters magical energy than ordinary magic. "But I have little choice," He muttered, "Mjölnir!"

Harry couldn't hear Voldemorts response, but he could guess it as a shimmering silver shield appeared in the air next to him, as a searing flash of light burst forth with a roar of thunder. Staggering from the force created by the impact, Harry spun around, bringing his wand up to chest level. Thrusting it forward, he called out his next spell, "Gungir!"

Resplendent gold light sprung from the tip of the wand. Taking the form of a spear, it burst forwards, impacting Voldemort's shield. The impact resounded with a much louder crack than the thunderous sound previously created, and Harry felt himself slide back from the resulting clash of Godly spells.

Harry felt a familiar ache across his body, as his heart seemed to throb painfully. Damn, he was overusing the planets energy. It was unsurprising when he considered it, having used a great magic, as well as a few God class spells, his own magical power was probably running dangerously low. As a result, the natural magic was unable to be balanced by his meagre remaining power. The world was literally overwhelming him, if he wasn't careful, his ego would be swept away. He grimaced as sweat formed on his brow, he really had to wrap this up.

Voldemort was in as bad a state as him. His face a rictus of pain, he was being forced to take unsteady steps back. Suddenly his body shuddered. Grey veins spread throughout all the exposed skin Harry could see, and his movements became incredibly sluggish. As Harry watched, his skin all turned a greyish colour, and he stopped moving entirely. Not wasting a moment, Harry cast a redactor curse, reducing the statue to chunks. There was a tense silence in the following moments, until Harry fell backwards, landing on his arse, laughing.

"Finally, that's finally over." He practically giggled to himself.

As he composed himself, there was a thudding sound. Looking over, the fallen angel had fallen from the sky. As he watched, the man coughed up blood. "Damn him, that bastard!"

"Wha-?"

The fallen snarled, "He ensured that if he died, I would die. That dirty, rotten, son of a-" the angel collapsed to the floor, unmoving.

"Huh. What do you know." Harry muttered. He looked up as Rias and Sona landed. They both looked like they'd, metaphorically, been put through hell. Their clothes were torn, and were dripping blood. One of Sona's eyes was forced shut, a head wound covering that side of her face in blood, and one of Rias's arms dangled uselessly at her side. "You alright?" he asked.

Rias chuckled, "should be fine."

Sona grimaced, "I'd appreciate it if you had someone try and heal us though. It's rather painful."

Harry fell back, laying on the ground. "Can you wait a while? I've got some business to finish." He reached into his robe, drawing out his flask. Pouring himself a cup, he sighed in pleasure as magical energy suffused his body.

"Really? You've destroyed Voldemort, what else is left?" Sona inquired incredulously.

Harry glanced over at where Dumbledore was strolling towards them, having entered the barrier.

"Very impressive Harry. You truly are a fine wizard, I'm proud to have taught you." There was sweat coating the old man's face, and his breath seemed a little short. "However, I must impose on you a little more. I would have us conclude our agreement now, while we have the chance. You must defeat me." He urged, "This wand shall be your prize. But I warn you, I won't be holding back."

Harry got to his feet, ignoring the shocked looks of the girls. "I wish it didn't have to come to this… but I'm putting you in the ground old man."

Dumbledore chuckled. "Alas, the things we must do. When there are nought but unpleasant options, we must choose the option that accomplishes the greatest amount of good. Now then, I believe the thing to say, is _'en garde!'_"

* * *

Harry fell to his knees, gasping for breath. Neither one of them had been in top condition, but it had still proven to be a more harrowing fight than his one against Voldemort. Harry managed to look up. The golden barrier was wavering, it would likely fall soon. There came a coughing sound from where Dumbledore had fallen. Harry managed to crawl over, ignoring Rias and Sona rushing over.

"You dead yet… old man?" He panted.

The old man's body was wracked with painful looking coughs. "N-not yet. But it is not far off, I fear." The old man moved a shaky hand into his robes, "Here, Voldemorts notes… as well, as my own." Dumbledore coughed, lightly tossing two books, which both fell into the small space between them, a testament to the old man's current weakness.

Harry picked them up, putting them into his robe, ragged from the fights. "Thanks, it means, a lot."

Dumbledore chuckled painfully, "It is a far cry from everything I wish to pass on, but it is everything I was able to compile that you might find of use. Now, here," He said, raising a shaky hand holding the exquisitely crafted wand, "The Elder Wand, the Deathstick, the Last, of the Deathly Hallows." Harry reached out to take the wand. The moment he touched it, the last remaining sparks of Dumbledore's life was extinguished. Harry barely noticed though. The moment he touched the wand, a strange sensation came over him, something like a tugging. His body stiffened, as he fell to the floor, not hearing the concerned calls of Rias and Sona.

* * *

Harry looked around, startled. He was suddenly no longer in the world he knew, he had appeared in a world of contorted shadows, and he couldn't really describe it. He got the feeling that he was supposed to go somewhere. No sooner had he decided to walk forward, had the world contorted around him, bringing him to what seemed to be a clearing (though it looked no different, he wasn't sure why he felt it was a clearing), with a shadowy blade impaled in the ground before him.

He walked forward, examining the blade. He saw that he was mistaken; it wasn't shadowy, but rather it seemed to be made of darkness itself. As he reached out to touch it, a voice interrupted him.

"I would take care, were I you."

He span around, he hadn't felt anyone approach! His eyes came on the figure that had spoken. It was a mass of shadows, though it vaguely resembled a person.

"What are you?" Harry asked with narrowed eyes.

"Who can say? A resident here? Some greater being? A figment of your imagination? The more pressing question is 'why?'"

"…Why are you here?"

The thing laughed, "A good question. Interpret it how you like. I'm here to warn you. When you seize hold of that power, everything will change for you. You can resist it's warping, but you are not immune. Will you succeed? Or will that power rip you apart from the inside? I can't wait to see."

Harry narrowed his eyes further. "I wasn't expecting a sword."

It laughed, this time it was cruel sounding, "A sword? _A sword?_ You truly think that thing is a sword? Oh no, silly mortal, it is so much more. You are incapable of comprehending what it is, so your mind forces it into the shape you are familiar with. I must say it is rather arrogant to liken yourself to drawing the sword from the stone. Will you regret it as much as she did, I wonder?"

Harry stared for a moment, before he turned to face the sword, reaching out for it. "I made my decision long ago. I have no choice but to move forward. I have no time to waste on regrets."

The being behind him grinned with a twisted caricature of happiness, though he didn't see it. "…I see. Go then. Do what you must." The figure vanished as Harry grasped the sword.

* * *

Harry's eyes snapped open. _'A dream? Or something more?'_ he shook his head, getting to his feet with Sona's help.

"Harry, are you alright?" Rias asked with concern.

"Why did you and Dumbledore have to fight?" Sona asked.

Harry rolled his shoulders, "Dumbledore was dying. After Voldemort's first fall, Dumbledore performed a ritual that stopped times degradation to his body so long as Voldemort existed. With him dead, his body would begin to rack up a great deal of damage. He needed me to claim this in a fight" he raised the elder wand, "before he died."

There was a sudden flash of fire. Harry twirled the wand as it disappeared, leaving behind the forms of Daphne and Susan, Fawkes flying around above Dumbledore's body singing a sad song.

"Come on, we have to get out of here!" Daphne urged, running over.

Harry nodded, "Right."

Daphne and Susan both span, raising their wands, casting shields that blocked incoming spells. Harry eyed the new arrivals.

"Accepting help from the French…" he shook his head "How sad."

"Shut up!" the unspeakable shouted, "We're going to stop you right now!"

"Daphne," Harry muttered, "Can you jump us out of here?"

Daphne hesitated, "I've not done so many people, but… yes." She said with finality, "I can do it."

Harry nodded, "Get ready then." He took a step forward. "Unspeakables… Aurors… The World Itself…" he raised his hand into the air, "Let me show you my new power. Supreme Mastery of Death!" Darkness swirled in his hand. The air around him became cold. The gathered people stiffened as the world around him seemed to begin breaking apart, turning to dust before even that broke further. The darkness began to coalesce into a shape.

"Kill him!" ordered the unspeakable in the lead. The wizards all began casting spells at him, but as they approached him, they seemed to flicker and die. Transfigurations seemed to fall apart.

"Sir!" one of the unspeakables said worriedly, "he's got a sorcery!"

"I know!" the lead figure said, "But we can't let him get away from here! We have to take him down before he figures out how to use it properly!"

The darkness finally finished forming a shape, a shape that could only be called a sword, though that didn't quite fit. Harry opened his eyes, revealing that they had turned solid black. Harry swung his hand down.

The gathered wizards, those which didn't manage to get far enough out of the way, as well as the landscape in front of him, simply vanished without a trace. Magical attacks, magical defences, they meant little in the face of his sorcery. His hand burned painfully, forcing him to release the sorcery. He felt the familiar energy, tinged with Daphne's essence spread around him and everyone else. He was filled with a sense of being submerged in raging waves, before it ended, his friends and he appearing in the familiar fields around the Greengrass home.

He looked over at the sound of Daphne's panting. "Susan, heal everyone as best you can." He instructed.

"Harry… are you?" came the nervous voice of Susan.

He nodded. "Yes, it seems the backlash from using the Sorcery blinded me. Hopefully it will wear off." He muttered. "It's of no concern. Heal the devils please."

"I… sure, okay." She agreed.

Harry stiffened as he felt a large power land behind him. He span round, drawing his wand.

"Greetings, Harry Potter." Came the melodic voice. "You may call me Raziel."

* * *

Omake;

"Whoaa, check out those tits!" a young boy whispered to his friends. The boy's name was Hyoudou Issei, or Ise to his friends. Of which there were only two, the two boys next to him.

One of the boys glasses seemed to flash, "85 centimetres" he said instantly, "pretty good, but not the best in school."

Issei adopted a thinking pose. "You're right. There definitely are better ones. Like-" His words were cut off at some approaching noise.

"Mmmaaaaagggggiiiiiicccccaaaalllll"

"What's that?" He asked confused.

"Puuunniisshhment!" The voice proclaimed, as something crashed into his friends back. Issei gaped. Ignoring his fallen friend, he stared in shock at the figure calmly posed atop him. Clad in a typical magical girl outfit was the student council president. Issei gaped, he couldn't believe what he was seeing.

"Magical girl Sona, reporting for duty, Teehee!" she giggled, striking a cutesy pose. "Magical punishment to all villains who break the rules."

"Wha!" his other friend began, before Sona seemed to disappeared, reappearing behind him. Issei barely saw her move!

"Maaggiicaaal, Suplex!" She shouted, grabbing the boy round the middle, and slamming him into the ground behind her.

Issei staggered back, "What the hell!" he screamed.

"Maaggiicaaal, Kick" the girl shouted happily, slamming her foot into his arm. Issei was sent flying into the building with a crash. The last thing he saw as his vision turned black was that damn pretty boy, Kiba, crashing into the president, holding her down while the beautiful goddess Himejima-sempai tying her up with ropes, as the other goddess, Gremory-Sempai approached shaking her head with a sigh.

* * *

Rias sighed as she walked up to the bound mannequin that looked like her friend. Smacking it on the head, it shook, "Sorry for this shameful display." It said in the normal no nonsense tone.

Rias sighed again. It was funny the first time, but this was the third time this week! She'd have to make sure Harry fixed whatever was glitching before she used it to impersonate herself.

Looking up at the students who were leaning out the window, she quickly used magic to alter their memories. Hopefully she could keep Sona from finding out about this. Thankfully she could alter other devils memories as well.

"Arms broken."

She looked over. Koneko, her new rook, was prodding the boy collapsed against the wall with her foot. Rias sighed again.

"Right, let's take them to the infirmary, we'll say they fell out of a tree while trying to spy on girls changing." She'd have to alter her peerages memories as well, it didn't sit well with her, but they'd ask awkward questions she wasn't able to answer.

* * *

Omake; Help me Professor Potter.

"Alright class, settle down." Harry called.

"What class, it's just me here!" Issei yelled, "And who the hell are you, why am I here?"

Harry flicked his wand at the troublesome student, a stinging hex leaving his lips.

"OW!" Issei exclaimed, grabbing his nose, "What the fuck dude?"

"Your role as a student is to sit there and be educated, not ask stupid questions." Harry deadpanned. "Since I'm magnanimous, I'll answer your question. We'd normally have Ron do this kind of segment, but he refused since he thought it would be 'demeaning' and 'clichéd', damn Hermione teaching him big words, and Hermione can't teach since she's not on team Harry right now. You're here since the author doesn't like you, and if he didn't take it out on you in the joke segments, he'd just write you out the story. No 'oppai' for you at all."

Issei began crying, "Damn it, why do I have to put up with this?"

A light bulb flashed above Harry's head. A twirl of his wand and an envelope appeared in his hand. "Go along with it and I'll give you these pictures of boobs." Harry said.

Issei immediately sat straight in his chair, "Yes, Sensei!"

"Very good. Now, the reason the author has decided to rip off this kind of segment is because there have been questions about certain features of the story, and he's too moronic to figure out a way to slip the exposition into the story proper, or his knowledge of what he's talking about rendered his explanation useless to those who lack his forknowledge. Either way, I'm here to help out.

Harry tapped his wand to the whiteboard, causing the words 'Great Magic' to appear, "Now, let's talk about Great Magic. In concept, they follow a very basic one. Magic chant, things go boom. But let's go into a bit more detail; any wizard is capable of learning a Great magic, but the simplest way to do so is to create some kind of magical bond with some kind of magical being. For example, when I contracted Rias, I got a 'destruction' natured GM, it's likely contracting Sona caused me to obtain a water natured GM. The Greengrass family have made a pact with the earth, theoretically granting them use of an Earth natured one from the moment of their birth. They somehow included me into that pact, giving me 'Animate Earth'."

"I don't understand." Issei complained, "But if I made a contract with a pair of oppai, would I get an oppai GM? OW!" He yelled out as another stinging hex hit him in the face.

"What did I say about stupid questions?" Harry deadpanned.

"Now" he continued, "Theoretically, there is no limit to the number of GM a warlock can obtain, although they would not be able to practice with them much if they had too many, and they would have to waste time deciding which to use. Typically, they don't see much use. They're the kind of thing that's hard to keep secret and cover up, which is a big deal in fights between wizards, and if used against a devil, the warlock would be at a disadvantage since the average devil's attack power is comparable, but devils have more magical power, meaning that the devils could easily win by dragging things out. One last thing to mention, when a wizard first attains a GM, for lack of a better word, it 'tunes' their magic, generally making it easier to cast magic."

Harry tapped the board again, changing the text to 'sorcery'. "Now, about Sorceries. These are on a different level. It is said that it is a power comparable to that of a God. This chapter revealed 'Supreme Mastery of Death' as a sorcery. I don't mind saying that 'death' is a very broad thing. If we want to get knee deep in bullshit, we can use 'death' and 'kill' in a much broader sense than 'ending the lives of things that are alive'. One last thing I'll say is that a sorcerer has modified his body to withstand the strain of a sorcery, but that doesn't mean the damage is completely negated. Whether that's' relevant or not the author isn't sharing. Now, if that's all, we can end that here."

"Now," Harry said, tapping the board one last time. Issei perked up as the word became 'harem'. "I've heard concerns I'm making a harem. I would like to dash these rumours. On that note, I shall try and explain the relationships since the author sucks at this. First, Susan. She has a crush on me. She feels intense gratitude for Voldemort's first fall, and guilt for 'betraying' me in second and fourth year. She knows more or less what I intend, and supports it. She would like to enter a relationship, but knows I have no intention of doing so, so she reluctantly remains something akin to 'friends with benefits'. This is the relationship Daphne desires. Unfortunately, I'm uncomfortable dealing with her strong, albeit short term compulsion magic, so I resist this. She has no issue going and enjoying time with other guys when I'm busy though. Cerea refers to herself as things such as 'mate' or 'fiancée'. This is because she strictly adheres to Centaur tradition, and it was the only way she could both get me out of trouble with her tribe after being caught up in my 'aura', and observe how I shape history firsthand. She considers me a good friend, but unfortunately I'm not what she desires in a partner. I'm short and with too few legs. I'm proud of my little friend but I'm not hung like a horse. Rias, likely due to the intimacy our souls shared, is interested in me, though what becomes of that is up in the air. Sona, well, if I hinted I wanted a relationship, she'd probably punch me in the face. Again. So yeah, I don't see that happening. Well then, that's all folks."

"Wait, Sensei!" Issei called out, his hand in the air.

"Hm? What is it student?"

"You promised me pictures of oppai!"

"Huh? Oh, so I did. Here." Harry said, throwing over the envelope.

Issei opened it excitedly, only to throw the pictures away, throwing up. "What the hell is that?" he screamed.

Harry smirked. "I promised you pictures of boobs, true, and they're pictures of my uncle's man-boobs from when I was dragged to the beach with them. Have fun with them. And on that bombshell, goodnight!"

* * *

**A.N. And so ends the business in the wizarding world. Mostly, they'll still pop up for a while. I got kind of weary since I wrote these as one chapter and they kind of dragged on. As such, please feel free to point out any plot holes/contradictions etc since I just wanted to get it over with.**

**To justify my 'fuck power levels' remark; I get the feeling in DxD that Rias could charge her full power, hit Sirzechs in the face and he'd shrug it off because he's so powerful. HP magic doesn't work like that. Some races resist magic, but it's the same across the entire species. If a devil can resist HP magic, and they don't have some family bloodline thing that does that, then all devils would resist magic to the same degree. I'm not having ultimate class devils shrug off all HP magic because 'power levels', that's not the way HP works. 'Fuck power levels' is not a something that can be used to explain things when power levels aren't involved, I'm looking at you, guest reviewer. **

**Alright, I'll try and keep this brief since most people seem to be perfectly happy with what I'm doing. Perhaps I was asking for it with my dismissal of Magicians, but once again I've been told that wizards are pathetic and even a dunce magician can end them all. (Okay, I paraphrased that slightly). Now; If we were to pluck Sirzechs from canon DxD and put him in the canon HP world, maybe he'd be somewhat annoyed, maybe he'd go get drunk, maybe he'd just get pissed at stubbing his toe; end result, he decides 'fuck Britain' and atomises the country. I don't contest he could do this, nor do I contest that wizards couldn't stop him. HP has no creatures that can atomise countries, so they'd have no defence against it. Hell, I wouldn't be surprised if a hell of a lot of devils and such could do this. Expecting wizards to have methods to stop this is absurd since nothing like that exists in the HP canon world.**

**However; this is **_**not**_** the canon HP world. This is a HP world that has known about monsters that can atomise countries since the very first wizard waved a pointy stick. They knew that their whole lives work could be destroyed by a millennia old moron throwing a temper tantrum; this caused them to develop countermeasures. Expecting something like devils and Gods to exist without wizards changing whatsoever? That is a something that makes no sense, and having all supernatural factions hide from them because 'they're whiny arrogant bitches' is one of the stupidest plot devices I've seen, just so the author can keep them as the common portrayal I've complained about before. That's not what I'm doing. These wizards knew that devils and angels and Gods could utterly destroy them, and responded by developing magic that can level the field somewhat. When Harry is forced to fight angels or devils or whatever, he won't be just throwing stunners at them; he's already got plans to deal with 'greater beings'. Honestly, this is one of the main reason I went with the Potters having a great deal of crafting knowledge.**

**As I mentioned before, wizards developed magic to triumph over the world around them. Having wizards being able to create a spell that protects a village against floods and Tsunamis isn't something I think is strange. Having that spell stop, say, an ultimate class devil from smashing that village using water magic seems fine to me. The ultimate class devil could just then smash it with fire, again, I'm not contesting that. A spell that redirects water, redirects water, regardless of how strong the magic trying to force it is. If I had a character who was a martial art genius redirecting a physical powerhouse with small efforts, using his power against him, I doubt anyone would bat an eye, but the moment I have wizards doing it with magic, people start complaining.**

**On another note; consider this. I wake up tomorrow, realise what a fool I've been, and decide that wizards are puny after all, so I feel I need to rewrite it. I could go with what one person messaged me about; Wizards offer a lot of versatility that make them a valuable commodity to devils. This wouldn't be wizard bashing, and I'm not opposed to a story like that. Problem is, the main character is Harry Potter, wizard. In that story, anytime anything happened, he'd have to ask the super duper devils to fix it for him because he's puny. Kind of a boring story, in my opinion.**

**My favourite option would be to turn Hogwarts into 'Hogwarts school for magicians', and go like that. Except as I've said, I'm not that far, so magicians are little more than mooks to me, and from what I've heard magicians still contract devils to do anything important, so yeah. Can't really write about things I don't know much about yet. **

**Or I could go a more traditional route. Harry was actually a devil/angel/whatever all along. Using his new super duper power, he smooshes Voldemort with a casual wave of his hand, kicking Dumbledore in the nuts for whatever imagined slight. Now that he's a super duper being, he has no need of puny wizard magic, throws away his wand and is on his merry way. If he's an angel, he starts calling himself Harriel, a devil would be Harrison McBadass, since Harry Potter lacks gravitas and either way, unless they become super duper as well, no other Harry Potter things show up, unless we want to point and laugh.**

**Perhaps I decide I want Harry to remain human; in which case he suddenly receives a sacred gear. He uses it to smoosh Voldemort in less than a minute, kicks Dumbledore in the nuts for whatever imagined slight, and throws away his pitiful wizard wand since sacred gears are super duper. He renames himself Harrison McBadass since Harry Potter lacks gravitas, Harry Potter elements no longer show up, unless they have a sacred gear, join a faction, or we want a laugh.**

**Lastly; Harry Potter gets turned into an angel/devil/whatever. His new master smooshes Voldemort, kicks Dumbledore in the nuts for whatever imagined slight, and tells Harry to throw away his silly little wand, they'll teach him how to be super duper, and tell him he is now Harrison McBadass (or Harriel) since Harry Potter lacks gravitas. Either way, HP elements no longer show up unless they also join a faction, or we want a laugh.**

**None of those last three really sound appealing to me.**

**Look, I don't consider myself a good writer. I know I have trouble keeping things straight and contradiction free. Making a balanced and coherent world is something I honestly think is a bit beyond me. I get excited by, and include any shiny thing that passes my screen. I have trouble any time more than two characters start talking since I tend to keep two people talking and push others to the side. I tend to repeat things that don't need repeating. I consider it a success that I wrote more than one chapter and no one's pointed and laughed about how bad my writing is, plot aside. (Note; please don't review saying 'you're a decent/crap writer', that's not why I'm mentioning this.)**

**I wrote this story, a lot in part to wanting people to think 'how can I make the Wizards interesting and relevant' rather than just abandoning them thinking 'they suck, kick them out the story.' I know I've probably gone a bit far with what one person called 'HP wanking', but as I said before, I wanted to do a Harry Potter crossover, rather than just a story about someone that happened to be a guy named Harry (Potter optional).**


	8. NOT REALLY A CHAPTER

**A.N. IMPORTANT NOTICE; NOT A CHAPTER! All Right, didn't really want to do this, but I can say I'm probably not going to continue this any time soon. As such, this isn't a chapter, but rather a summary of what I would 'probably' have done, all ideas would, of course be subject to either change, or being tossed out completely as I tried to write it.**

**If you don't want to read it, since I 'may' continue at some point, then stop reading now. **

**And Remember, this was all just a vague 'this is probably where this was going' thing. I'd probably have tossed half of it out by the time came to write it. It was in part kind of like an experiment, where I throw whatever I find interesting in, to see what works. Just writing it out makes me wonder what I was thinking.  
**

**Edit; Considering I discontinued this already, I'm somewhat doubtful many will read this, nonetheless, I feel articulate, and in the mood to try and justify what I was doing with the wizards in general.**

**So; I said before that the 'weak wand wavers' likely came from HP not being a shounen system. What I was thinking was, if it were a shounen system, then if Dumbledore or Voldemort cast a stunning spell, then an average wizard wouldn't be able to stop it, because in that system, more powerful characters are pretty much unstoppable by weaker characters. In HP, this isn't the case. A stunning spell would be stopped by a shield charm, regardless of the people involved, that's simply the way it works, so long as the spells were cast properly.**

**I personally don't really like shounen systems, especially concerning magic. Don't get me wrong, it's a sensible idea; adding more power makes it stronger. It just feels like a very 'muggle' approach though, likening magic, which should be somewhat mysterious in my opinion, to something as simple as punching someone, where punching someone really hard will do more damage. Which is why I like the HP system. It's full of holes, I fully acknowledge that, but I don't really think that's a problem.**

**Which brings me back to what I was doing; let's assume I had Dumbledore carefully analyze and devise a shield charm that could stop Rias' Power of destruction; it wouldn't matter if she charged it up, or was boosted, the power of individuals doesn't change the effect of the spells, in this case, the shield charm stopping the attack. More than that, even Sirzechs's attack, with his power level of infinity plus one, would still not pass the shield, it may destroy everything around it, but the shield would stop it, because at it's core, it's pretty much the same attack, just with much better power and control, which wouldn't influence the performance of a HP shield. **

**No doubt I contradicted myself in the story several times just now; talking about a 'magic core' and 'magical power' is a very sensible way of examining the idea of magic, and I really am quite bad at noticing when I contradict myself, especially with minor details, and especially if I'm writing quickly, but I wanted to look at it from the stand point of; not subject HP to shounen logic, but subjecting a shounen series to HP logic. And I know that HP logic can sound like an oxymoron.**

… … …

Archangel Raziel reveals that he has been waiting 'for someone who fulfils certain signs' since the great war, and hasn't been in heaven since. Harry fulfils many of them, though Dumbledore, Voldemort and Grindelwald came close.

He reveals that the sorcery will start 'consuming' Harry, spreading from his hand, which is now black/grey/something. When it controls 'enough' it will become an entity called 'death' and try and take full control of his body. If he were to lose that fight, a being akin to Ophis, who was 'born from nothingness' would emerge.

He reveals that he will help Harry as he can, and that Harry may want to retrieve a book from the international archive for his goal, I was toying with the 'necronomicon' or something like that.

Rias and Sona act as a distraction, where they beat the crap out of Auror type wizards until unspeakables show up, who are more of a challenge, forcing them to be extracted by Daphne.

Harry Susan and Ron sneak into the archives. They retrieve the book, Harry uses a spell to absorb all the knowledge from it/reads it after meeting back up with the group, and the 'corruption' of the book does something, (erupt into a mass of tentacles maybe) and Ron saves him with the power of Bromance, and Susan and Daphne extract 'something' from his mind, saving him from the taint.

Harry sends Ron to France to meet up with 'an old friend', meanwhile goes to the Vatican/some church storehouse to steal some kind of artefact (thinking Holy grail, before I found out it was a sacred gear in vampire hands), using his pointing needles from the map.

Around this time, meets the devil Asia healed, and, seeing he's a dick, tests out the pots from a previous chapter, sealing the devil inside, unable to get out.

Steals artefact no1.

Goes to France, meets up with Ron and Fleur, who broke up with Bill in response to the Weasley's 'betraying' Harry. She takes them out on a yacht/other boat, to find Atlantis. Daphne and Cerea stay behind due to wanting to stay on land.

Fleur stays on boat while the rest swim down, observing some massive leviathan type creature in the depths. Enchanted wetsuits/stuff to stay alive.

Enter Atlantis, swarming with beings – check Kuo-toa or Sahuagin from D&amp;D. Summons Sona to help slaughter their way through them. Finds tons-of-crap (trademark), including artefact 2, probably something weather related, tons of Orihalchum or something, fancy magic gloves. Harry either upgrades his eyes, or makes glasses/goggles so he can 'see' magic better, and uses the gloves as a primary focus.

Harry lashes out with his sorcery after Susan gets scratched, revealing that he is still effected by Rias' protectiveness towards her 'things', temporarily blinding him and the sorcery encroaching up his arm.

Fleur basically starts a relationship with Ron due to events that I haven't really thought of.

Team heads off towards the ruins of Babylon, to retrieve another artefact. Gets into a fight with church people in front of them, who don't realise they were actually sent after him. While Harry unlocks the door, Daphne and Cerea, possibly Ron and Fleur, if they weren't off for some reason deal with the church people, I'm thinking Xenovia and someone based on Hellsings Alexander Anderson, killing the latter, and forcing the former to retreat.

Enter the city, retrieve an artefact, thinking something along the lines of an orb of water/waters of life or something. Harry charms it so when he's done with it, it'll return to the gardens, which he places under stasis.

Not sure how it'd fit with DxD, but was thinking infiltrating the Vampire kings castle/mansion to retrieve 'awesome spear' (trademark), cripples vampires with something like 'Solaris maxima'. VK activates some magical device that creates an 'anti-magic' effect. Kicks Harry's arse until his team disable it, having snuck in to plant charmed explosives/muggle ones, Harry uses a spell stolen from DoM/Dumbledore's or Voldemort's notes, 'Solaris Ultimus' which creates a miniature sun, destroying the entire building, vaporising everything. Harry is seriously burned, even with the spell containing 'safeties' for the caster.

Eh, couple more artefact retrievals, maybe Egyptian pyramid, or Greek Pantheon. Maybe a Japanese Regalia. Was aiming for 7 artefacts, probably would have cut down if I felt it was dragging on too long.

Heads to Kuoh for a rest before kicking off the end game.

Upon hearing of the fallen in town, breaks into the church, using the mark on his hand to subjugate one, probably Reynare, turning her into a pseudo-Sacred gear, to hide her survival, killing the rest, inadvertently saving Asia meaning she does not become a devil. Issei does not 'awaken' boosted gear.

Raziel talks with Asia, something along the lines of 'your banishment was for your own good, it was likely a test, to see if you would remain faithful, or throw your lot in with the fallen or devils, as well as giving you the chance to make friends. Killing or imprisoning you would have denied the fallen and devils a valuable commodity, so you were likely being watched over by an angel. If you repent for willingly dealing with the fallen, you will likely be accepted back into heavens graces'. Or something.

Maybe some high school comedy here… (possibly including some magical training, and Issei revealing his true sacred gear, some stupid and lewd event most like.)

Wasn't sure what to do with the Riser stuff. Thinking going with what a reviewer suggested; Rias asks Harry to impregnate her, before revealing 'fertility potion' to her parents. Thinking Harry puts them into contact with Sirius/Fleur, the former of who was able to get his freedom, given all DE died with Voldemort. Rias' engagement is broken. Harry obliviates some unspecified stuff from her.

Possibly retrieving artefact from Kyoto, maybe 'mirror of truth' or something.

For the Kokabiel stuff, Harry basically does something to recreate 'true' Excalibur using the present fragments, thus erasing even the Excalibur fragment not present, something along the lines of 'the church is stupid, Excalibur isn't 'merely' a holy sword'.

Kokabiel recognises the nature of Harry's power and accuses him of killing God. Harry replies that was his ancestor. Harry kills the present priests with 'priest killing dagger', sacrificing their souls to an Aztec God or something, Raziel takes down Kokabiel, lamenting that his fate was piteous, whereas he'd likely take joy from killing Azazel, a sentiment he should try and refuse as an angel.

Harry kills Kokabiel, possibly interrupted by Vali, in which case Harry takes a hit (possibly breaking a few ribs) to land a touch on Vali, with some blood placed, Harry activates a seal that disables Vali's sacred gear, and renders him unable to activate it. Having Vali 'witness' Harry execute Kokabiel, Harry then sends Vali back to the fallen, knowing they'll have no choice but to consider him an enemy.

Surprising everyone, Harry pushes his hand into Issei's chest, stealing Boosted gear, killing Issei. Rias attacks him in a rage, supported by Xenovia and her peerage.

Harry breaks his connection to Rias, making her think her anger caused it. He speaks to Xenovia, she turns on and kills Kiba, joining Harry until he explains what he told her.

Possibly a line about 'Humanities greatest power is potential, originality. Witness the power of humanity! Draig, I'll be taking your power! Boosted Gear, Balance Breaker, Activate!'

Akeno is killed by Cerea, either wielding a charmed bow/sniper rifle, complaining Harry owes her for it if the latter.

Team Harry then escapes, Harry taking Sona on the way out.

Harry reveals plan – He had a vision of some great beast laying waste to the world, (this was before I heard of Trihexa, lucky coincidence), plans to resurrect God to see if either the beast can be prevented from arriving, or if his sorcery can defeat it. God is 'kept' dead by a curse the last sorcerer crippled him with (think 'all of humanities malice/all the evils of the world'), before 'killing' him. Harry warns if he doesn't like what God tells him, he'll shove him back in the hole.

Harry says something along the lines of needing to make his existence 'closer to Gods', he interprets that as having the 'same enemies', why he baited the fallen and devils.

A line about how God doesn't hate wizards – Jesus, Moses and Eve were all wizards/witches etc… Check out 'Why wizards hide from muggles' by evilfuzzy9. I… am not sold on a lot of what they write, but that was a good one.

Around here, was planning for the Weasley's to appear, to stop Harry and retrieve Ron. Ron tells Harry to go, telling him he'll handle it, and prove he has surpassed his brothers. Maybe, I liked the sound of it.

Possibly Hermione too.

Harry is attacked by at least Serafall and Sirzechs, due to the little sister enslavement thing. Maybe a couple of other devils. Harry does a 'precasting' AK, (casting the spell, but not releasing it. Idea stolen from Negima), aparating behind Sirzechs, the wand touching him, killing him. Apparition is 'instant' so there is literally 'no' time for Sirzechs to respond.

Seals Serafall in one of his pots, since he promised Sona he'd try and avoid hurting her, may lead to some funny Sona-Harry-Serafall moments people seem to want.

Possibly throwing a bone to complainers by having Sirzech's 'body' die, but him becoming a mass of the PoD. He is then killed by Harry's Sorcery, which prevents his true form from destroying the world. From the beginning, I was undecided on whether Sirzechs would perish, but people bitching about it made it certain.

Any other devils present can't act due to Harry having deployed the anti-magic from the vampire castle, tuned to devil magic. (I feel people may complain, but I'll point out they wouldn't if muggles developed anti magic. So fuck you again.)

They head to an uncharted island where there is a castle of the Blacks. The entire island is tainted, withered and bleak. Just being there sends chills down everyone's spines.

Harry comes into contact with the curse, to get a feel for it. Depending on when this happened, he may have hit Sirzechs with it. (I considered him coming here originally after Atlantis.)

Cue big-ass-ritual. A devil, angel, and fallen are required to kneel at the points of a triangle array, artifacts around them in a septagon/circle, Excalibur in the middle. Harry boosting the power from the centre. Team Harry trying to fend off any interruptions, possibly heaven arriving to aid them.

Ominous giant black head thing appears from the ground, claiming 'God belonged to him', black head swallows Harry. Cue weird mind-scape battle against Death. Harry has to let go of everything, his memories etc… to focus on winning, and protecting anything related to his purpose.

Reappears in the real world, tells them to get on with the ritual. Being of light appears. Maybe a joke about how the brightness forced everyone who looks at it to turn their gaze away, Harry conjured sunglasses.

God reveals he was an incomplete being, a being of pure creation. He wanted to create a being greater than himself, a being of creation&amp;destruction/life&amp;death, it was all part of his plan, fuses with Harry, creating a being that is 'neither yet both' or some nonsense like that. Possibly restores the memories Harry lost.

Eh, hadn't really considered where to go from there. Probably just wrap things up. The beast thing is sealed away, God returns to heaven, maybe he creates a physical avatar, slightly cut off from himself so he can finish his mortal life, without being interrupted by all the 'God' stuff.

… … …

Ideas that may have been incorporated;

I was originally considering having Harry lay a protection like an age line, with inverted wards a la Voldemort attached, Sirzechs casually breaking it, only to get magically crippled by the hidden defences, taking him out the picture for at least as long as Harry needs.

I toyed with a few characters hinting about a time loop, forcing Harry to find a way to break boosted gear, freeing Draig mid ritual to overcome an instant kill by death through the sacred gear.

On that note, I was thinking about playing up the dragon's blood in the sorcerer ritual, something like sorcerers originally learned from Dragons, only to turn around and do something that crippled them, causing any dragons born on earth to be the dragons in HP, and having them speak Dragon language from Skyrim.

I was certainly going to have Harry fuse a time turner into his chest, giving him time-magic abilities, though using them would have the side effect of altering his age randomly. I was going to use a random number generator and everything.

Daphne's thing was basically senjutsu, but there was no way English wizards would call it such. From what I can tell, it's relatively undefined in DxD, so I was just toying with a bunch of things.

I was considering having the Khaos Brigade, or whatever, showing up, and Daphne basically taunting Kuroka, 'does the kitty want to play?' or something like that.

Ophis may have shown up at some point, where Harry said something like 'get in my way and I'll end you' she replies 'do you think you can?' he responds 'Do you want to risk it?', after she left, he'd have revealed it was a complete bluff, he had no idea if he could actually harm her, let alone end her.

Throwing Rias's line about doing whatever it took to achieve his goal in her face was something I would have found amusing.

Wasn't really sure what to do about Gods from other Pantheons to be honest. Was thinking about, in Egypt artefact hunt, a lich/mummy thing trapping Harry in a sub dimension where really weakened Egyptian Gods hang out, trying to feed on anything the servant throws their way, only for Harry to wipe them out with his sorcery. Would have been a chance for Ron to shine, taking down the priest lich thing while Harry was indisposed, albeit with Daphne's help.

... ... ...

**edit; I wanted to be done with this, but I'll take a quick moment to respond to a couple of reviews about 'god'. first up, not a theologist, nor a linguist, and while I'm undecided on the existence of a 'supreme' being, I don't follow any religion, and a lot of my 'information' was picked up from a five minute browse on wikipedia, which I know isn't the most reliable source.**

**El Shaddai, yes, I know God is called this, and it means 'Lord of Destruction', but my quick research project claims this is a possible meaning, it could mean 'He who is strong', 'Almighty Lord', 'he of the mountain' or 'the one of the breast/womb'.**

**As for the war god thing. I said his power was 'creation', not his personality, he could 'create' armies, weapons, black holes, etc. It was probably my poor wording, but I wasn't saying he was incapable of killing. Second, Religion is the creation of man, if we go with 'God lets men do what they want/is dead' I wouldn't be surprised man would label God as a being of war regardless of whatever his true nature might be, since men always like to have support as to why they should go off and kill/fight inferior people/people who have things they want. Even christianity, which likes to talk about forgiveness and such, have spun that into killing tons of people.**

**Also, it can easily have come about by the way it rose above all the other religions around.**

**Either way, not my area of expertise, just what I was thinking when the ideas came to me. Plus, DxD plays pretty loosely with Christianity from what I can tell as it is.**


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